Some Things Never Change
by R.J.North
Summary: All happy things come to an end. That's what Alex comes to find out. Or, so she thought. Feeling so alone is something she gets used to, but she doesn't have to be alone. Not with Raph, or Kerry, or any of her friends. She has to learn to trust them because they won't leave her no matter how much she fears they will.
1. Surprise on the Unsurprised

Chapter 1

Surprise on the Unsurprised

Every year for Elliot's birthday, their parents threw him a surprise party. It was never a true surprise, because Elliot knew there would be one around his birthday, but the day they had the party on always changed, so in that aspect it truly was a surprise. That year, it turned out they were having the party the week after his birthday, on the second weekend of January.

Alex was out with her parents getting the finishing touches while Zack and Nathan entertained and kept watch for the guests, which really only consisted of April and Robyn. Marcus was out with Elliot, something about helping Marcus with buying presents for some girl he made up as a girlfriend just to give him an excuse to keep Elliot out of the house with me all day.

"Alrighty then," Ava O'Neil, Alex's mother said. "We just have to get the cake."

Alex had Elliot's wrapped present in her arms. They had gotten him a set of antique swords (which were extremely over priced, if anybody asked Alex) that Elliot had had his eyes on for several months. Alex's father, Adam, was walking beside her with the balloons, making him look slightly ridiculous. He was a grown man with balloons bouncing in his hands. She couldn't help but giggle every time she looked at him, which would annoy him even more.

"Cool," Alex said. "Chocolate with strawberry icing?" she asked.

"Of course, that's his favorite," her mother said.

"I could've just made one, you know," Alex told her. "It would have been a lot cheaper."

"A _lot_ cheaper," Adam grumbled.

"Yes, but this is his favorite bakery," Ava said.

"Well, he has expensive taste," Alex muttered, glancing down at the swords. "I bet I could have made one that tasted better anyways."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Adam said. "You have a knack for baking."

"She gets that from me," Ava said.

"And my fight abilities," Adam said.

"But my fluidity and grace," Ava added.

"Are you arguing about what I got from each of you is better?" Alex asked. "Because that's kind of sad. And weird. Not to mention kind of dumb."

Ava rolled her blue eyes at the girl. "I believe our daughter just called us dumb," Ava pretended to gasp.

"Grounded," her father teased.

" _What_?" Alex asked. "Oh, come on! You have to admit that was pointless."

"She has a point, dear," Ava said. "Plus, it _is_ Elliot's birthday. We can't ground her on Ellie's party."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Isn't the bakery this way?" he asked, pointing down one of the side streets.

"Yes Dear," her mother said.

The three turned down the street and made their way to the small, not very well known baker that had Elliot's favorite dessert. Alex shifted the swords in her hand slightly, putting them into a more comfortable position. However, she nearly dropped them when suddenly her stomach dropped, warning her that something was wrong. The girl froze in place, turning her head to look around her for any danger.

"Alex?" Adam asked, noticing the girl's sudden hault.

"Sweetheart?" her mother asked. "Is something wrong? You've gone pale." Her mother moved to her, placing her hands on her face to check her temperature. "You don't feel warm at all."

"Something bad's gonna happen," she told them.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked, stepping in front of her. He bent down slightly to look in her eyes. "What is it, Alex?"

"I've got a bad feeling," she told him, her voice sounding extremely concerned.

Her father studied her with his equally as green eyes for a moment before nodding his head. "All right," he said. "Let's go home."

"But what about the cake?" her mother asked. "Nothing's going to happen. Adam, she probably just hungry. You know how the kids get when they're starving."

Alex shook her head. "No, it's not like that at all," she said. "I've got a really bad feeling."

"Nonsense," her mother insisted. "Come on. Let's go. The sooner we move, the sooner we get home for the party. _Veet, veet_. We're in a hurry now."

Ava turned round, only to be stopped from walking as three very tall gangsters stood in the middle of the sidewalk. Alex gulped, her stomach dropping even more. The three gangsters had the same Purple Dragon tattooed on their arms, indicating they were from the Purple Dragons.

"We need to leave, _now_ ," Adam said, pulling his wife back.

The three turned around and started to make their way down the street in which they came, but at the end of the block were several more Purple Dragon's, leaning against the side of the building, as if waiting for them.

"Turn right," her father muttered to them.

They turned down a little side alley in hopes of getting away from the gangsters, but the alley ended at a dead end, of course. Alex gulped, turning around to see several of the gangers following them. The rest stood at the other end of the alley, making sure nobody escaped.

"Well, look what we have here," the tallest of them all muttered, with a crooked toothed smile. His hair was bleech blonde, obviously not natural, and under his right eye was a quarter sized birthmark that stuck out against his pale skin, matching his brown eyes, "A couple of people our boss has been meaning to take care of."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Adam said. "I dont' know this boss you speak of. My family and I are just passing through. That's all."

"No, no," the guys said. "I'm pretty sure you're who he's looking for. A bunch of red heads that think they're better than everybody else. You stick your nose in business that doesn't concern you."

"We mind our own," Adam said.

 _He's talking about Elliot,_ Alex thought, glancing at two guy that moved to her left. She vaguely recognized them from the Foot Institute. One with a bandana and the other with a mohawk, both with pocket knives pulled. _They work for Oroku Saki. He wants to take us out to get to Elliot and to get to TCRI._

"That's the thing," the guy said. "You don't. That's why the boss is pissed. So we're going to take care of it for him. _Permanently_."

"Alex," her father muttered to her. "Give me the swords.

Alex nodded her head and tossed the bundle to him. Everything moved extremely quickly after that. Bandana went to slash Alex, high to low, but she stepped backwards. Next was left to right. Alex just kept moving to the side. Banda went to kick her, but she blocked it with her own leg. She then grabbed the hand with the knife. Mohawk was making his way over to Alex and went to slash her, high to low, but Alex used her leg to kick him in the stomach, sending him backwards.

Alex then twisted Bandana's hand and shoved him up against the brick wall, face first. Once she knew he felt the pain in his head from the impact, she twisted his arm again and flipped him onto the ground, causing him to drop the knife. Before she could do anything else to him, Mohawk got back up and slashed high.

The redhead ducked and quickly had to step back from a chest swipe. He went to do another high to low, but Alex grabbed his hand with both of her's and twisted it until she was behind him, his arm pulled backwards with the threat of dislocation. Because of the position Mohawk was forced into, he noticed the discarded knife on the ground. He kicked it over to Bandana, which resulted in an annoyed Alex. She straightened Mohawk back up and kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground.

Bandana got back up with his knife and made a quick stab towards the girl with his right hand. Alex used her left hand to redirect his with his own momentum by hitting his hand with her hand. Bandana recovered quickly and slashed high. Alex ducked easily. He went to stab once more, but this time instead of just redirecting him, Alex grabbed onto his hand, pulled him around in a 180 before pulling his very closely and ducking. When she ducked, Bandana kept going, trimming over the guys. He was flipped over onto his back.

Mohawk charged the girl. She moved to the left, back, then left again before getting kicked in the stomach. She was forced back several steps.

This gave Alex and both the two thugs time to regroup. The two thugs were annoyed with the interference and angered because they were getting shown up by a teenage girl. Alex was just annoyed that when the guy kicked her, he left a muddy footprint on the her stomach.

Both men moved quickly and slashed at the same time. Alex stepped back, dodging. Mohawk went to kick her, but she blocked with her arm. He went to stab, but she redirected him, pushing him to the side giving her just enough time to deal with Bandana, who had tried to attack her from behind. She kicked her foot out, hitting him in the stomach.

Mohawk was ready to attack again by that point. She blocked two of his kicks with her own legs, and then jumped up, roundhouse kicking him in the head. She followed through with the momentum that her roundhouse gave her and lowered herself to the ground, spinning out to swipe the man's feet out from under him. He dropped the knife when he went down.

Alex was about to kick the knife up when Bandana got up and attacked. After two failed stabs, she grabbed his arm, twisted his behind his back, taking the knife out of his hand and pressed it against his neck. In the corner of her eye she could see Mohawk starting to get up with his knife, but Alex forced Bandana on the ground with the knife pressed to his neck. Alex pinched a pressure point in his neck, knocking him out, this left her free to point the knife at the other thug.

A loud gunshot echoed through the alley. Alex's head snapped to the side, just in time to see her mother fall to the ground.

" _MOM_!" she screamed right as her father yelled, " _AVA_!"

Alex was at her mother's side in an instant, pressing her hand to her mother's gushing stomach. _Oh God. Oh God,_ Alex thought. _It's not stopping. Why isn't it stopping?_ Her mother gasped, staring up at nothing in particular as blood dripped out of her mouth.

"Mom?" Alex asked, hands shaking, dripping in her mother's blood. She took her coat off and pressed it to her mother's wound in an attent to top it better. "M-Mom? Stay with me. You're okay. Just stay with me." By that point Alex herself was having a hard time breathing, but for a different reason.

"I-I-It's o-okay, B-B-Babygirl," she managed to get out, a small smile on her face as she took her last gasp.

"Mom? No, Mom?" Her mother's eyes remained unmoving, staring up at the black sky. _No, no, no, no, no, no._ She chest was still and there were no shallow gasps. There wasn't anything. "Mom! Wake up! _Mom_!"

"Alex, lookout!"

Adam moved in front of Alex. Another gunshot went off, and Alex could hear her father grunt, before a sharp pain shot through her side. She glanced down to see a small tear in her shirt, and a little blood dripping out of the graze at her side. It burned, but she ignored it a she looked back up to see her father fall to his knees three feet from where she sat with her dead mother.

" _DAD_!" she screamed, lunging towards him, but stopped when the same guy who had been talking to her father pointed the gun at her.

He smirked down at her, turning his head to the side slightly as he laugh. Alex studied him intensely, making sure to memorize everything about him. She needed to know what the man that killed her family looked like in order to get back at him. That was, if she lived. "Son of a bitch," she growled shakily. "What the hell did we do to you?"

"Doesn't matter what you did," he answered. "Just following orders. No hard feelings." He motioned for his mean to leave, which they did promptly. "Give the Guardian a message, would you?" he asked, putting the gun away. "Back down or the rest will be next. Got that?"

" _Go to hell,_ " was her response.

Alex lunged forward, but since she was in such a state of rage, she wasn't thinking straight, which affected her fighting. The girl ended up getting punched in the eye, as well as hit with the butt of the gun, knocking her dazedly to the ground as the group left.

The group was gone and Alex went to her father. She moved as quickly as she could, pressing her hand to her father's stomach, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. She pressed down hard, causing her father to groan in pain. Alex called out for help, hoping someone would hear and help, though she feared the bystander effect would come into play.

"Come on, Dad," Alex she begged. "Don't leave me. You've gotta hang in there. Someone'll be here to help soon, I promise. J-Just hold on another minute."

"Alex," her father managed to say. "Listen to me."

"I'm listening," she said, moving in closer. "Go on."

"I love you," he told her. "I haven't told you that nearly enough."

"You tell me enough," she told him. "I know you love me, Dad. I know. I love you too. And so do the boys. That's why you have to hang on. We need you, Dad."

"I-I-I-I," he gasped. "Do-Don't think I can, Alex."

"No, come on, Dad," she pressed, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying. "You're a fighter. You're stronger than that. You've gotta hang in there."

"I-I'm sorry, A-"

"No, Dad!" she yelled, as her father stopped talking, his chest unmoving. "No, come on, Dad. Open your eyes." She shook her head, desperately in need of help. "Someone! HELP!" she screamed. "Somebody help! Please!"

* * *

The alley was taped off as a crime scene. There were dozens of officers standing guard, making sure no unauthorized personnel got in. There were forensic scientists over by where the two covered bodies laid under white and red stained sheets.

Alex was sitting off to the side, blood stained arms wrapped around herself. She was sitting on the metal steps of a back exit to one of the buildings connected to the alley, staring off at the wall as she saw the face of the man that killed her parents in her mind, smirking at her.

Alex glanced over at the line of officers as two men in suits stepped under the tape and walked to an officer, the first on scene, next to the bodies of her parents.

"Detective Longer," the officer greeted the African American man. "Detective Blake."

"What do we have?" Longer asked the officer.

"Male and female, both in their forties," he said. "Single gunshot each. Their daughter," he said pointing to Alex over on the side, "saw the whole thing. She hasn't spoken to anybody yet. Tried to get her statement, but all she'd do is stare at me. Kind of creeped me out."

"I'll talk to her," Blake told his partner. He walked over and stopped just short of the girl, glancing back at his partner and the bodies before addressing the girl, looking into her sharp green eyes. "Hey," he said. "I'm John. Detective John Blake. What's your name?"

Alex just stared into his brown eyes, shaking from the cold. Seeing as she had used her coat to try and stop her mother's bleeding, she was left in her black tee-shirt and jeans. It was night and January, meaning the temperature was in the single digits or lower, depending on the wind chill.

"That's okay," he told her softly. "You don't have to talk." He glanced back at his partner, who was talking to the forensic scientists to see what information they could give him.

Alex looked at the man again. He was tall with extremely warm brown eyes and dark brown hair cut rather short. He dressed himself in a black coat and pants, while he wore a dark blue shirt and no tie, which meant he wasn't too into dressing up, she assumed. He seemed nice, she found. And he spoke softly, as if he understood what she was going through. The officer that was first on the scene had pushed her, demanding answers and her statement. He had been cold and pushy, unconcerned about how Alex was.

"Alex," she muttered softly, barely audible. Blake looked back at the girl and she shivered. "M-My name's Alex O'Neil, Sir."

Blake bent down in front of her, making them eye level since she was on the steps. "Can you tell me what happened, Alex?" he asked calmly.

Alex sighed and shivered, breathing quickly as the man's face appeared in her mind once more. She raised her blood stained hands through her hair, gripping the strands tightly, pulling to try and cause slight pain to try and focus and calm herself. _Breathe,_ she told herself. _Breathe and tell him what happened. Just tell him. Tell him they killed them. They kill- Oh God, they're dead!_

Blake moved to the space next to her and sat down. He took his coat off and draped it over her shoulders, rubbing his hands up her arms to try and warm her up. "When I was your age," he said, "a drunk driver hit our car. Killed my parents."

Alex glanced up at him, her hands falling out of her hair and inside the jacket, wrapping around herself. His brown eyes were soft, telling her he was speaking nothing but truth to her. He was telling her he knew what she was going through. That he knew how she felt.

"I know how you feel right now," he told her. "And I promise you, no matter how dark and scary the world may seem right now, there will be light. It will get better, Alex."

"We were just picking up a cake," she told him. "I-it's my brother's surprise party tonight. We got stopped by some Purple Dragons. We fought and the main guy pulled a gun. Shot my mom. Then my dad."

"Can you tell me how many of them there were?" he asked.

"There were about nine of them in total," she answered, staring down at her hands.

"Would you be able to give their descriptions to a sketch artist?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, it's the least I can do," she answered instantly. "I-I should have done something. Something more. I-I mean, I can. I-I'm perfectly capable of doing it."

"You can't blame yourself for this," Blake insisted. "You don't know any of that for certain."

 _But I do_ , Alex thought, shaking her head. She was feeling extremely light headed _. I can fight. I can protect, but I just, why didn't…_

"Did you try calling your family?" Detective Blake asked.

Alex shook her head. She placed a hand to her head, rubbing her temple in order to try and make the feeling go away. "I don't have my phone on me. It's at home charging. An-and my parents…" Alex glanced over before her face contorted and she bit her lip, looking away.

"Why don't you come with me to the car? It'll be warmer in there and you can borrow my phone. How does that sound?"

Alex nodded her head and moved to stand up, but her knees gave out from under her. Blake saw what was happening and reacted quickly, grabbing the girl, but hitting the graze on her side in doing so. Alex groaned and tried to move away from his hold, just to get him to stop touching her wound. Blake eased her back to the ground gently.

"Alex? Look at me," he said. "What's wrong? Did you get hurt?"

Alex slowly nodded her head. "S-side," she muttered.

Blake lifted the side of the coat before glancing up at Alex to silently ask her if it was okay for him to take a look. Once he got his nod, he lifted the bottom of her shirt just enough to see the graze on her side, which had stopped bleeding only due to the cold. However, she had lost a good deal of blood because of it, which was why she was so dizzy.

"Okay, we're going to need to get that taken care of," Blake told her. He turned and looked over his shoulder to his partner and yelled, "Longer, we need a bus here forthwith!"

* * *

Alex hated hospitals. She didn't like doctors. She didn't like medicine. She didn't like the smell or the lighting or how noisy they were. She hated everything about them, but what else could she do when she had been shot? Detective Blake wouldn't take no for an answer. And when her brothers found out she didn't go to the hospital after being shot? They would probably have put her in there themselves from the beating.

The girl was sitting in the emergency room, having just gotten patched up. They had gotten her all situated in a private room and some of the nurses gave her an extra set of scrubs to change into so that her clothes could be taken in as evidence, and let her stay in there, seeing as she was going to have to speak to more policemen. They decided it would be best for her to give her statement there, as well as the descriptions for the sketch artists.

"...And I just need you to sign here," Blake told her, showing her where to sign on her statement. "There, now that's all taken care off. All that's left to do is wait for the sketch artist."

Alex didn't answer. She just sat on the bed with her legs crossed, her elbows resting on her knees. She glared at the white sheets, not really paying much attention to what Detective Blake was saying.

"Alex?" he asked, trying to get the girl's attention. "Are you all right? Do you need me to go get the nurse? You could probably take that pain medication now."

The redhead shook her head. "I don't want it," she told him. "I can deal."

"It'll help you relax though," he told her. "Maybe get some sleep."

"Don't want it," she stated again.

"Okay," Blake said with a sigh. "You know, you can talk to me about all this, if you'd like. I know what you're going through." He was met with silence. "I'll get these guys, Alex. I promise."

 _It's not the thugs I'm concerned with,_ she thought. _I want the Oroku Saki._ "Let's hope you do," she muttered, glancing up at his with cold green eyes that once were always so warm and vibrant. "Because if you don't, _I_ will. And if I don't, Elliot will. And _nobody_ gets away from Elliot."


	2. The News

Chapter 2

The News

It surprised not only Detective Blake, but also Detective Longer and the sketch artist just how much detail Alex remembered of her attackers. She had been trained from a very young age to keep her eyes open and to notice things most people never did. As she gave them the descriptions, she could see the detectives giving one another looks. She knew exactly what they were thinking. She just didn't care.

Since she was so descriptive, it didn't take long to get through the sketches. Once they were done, Detective Longer left with the artist while Detective Blake was going to stay behind with Alex until her family arrived.

Alex sighed, flopping down onto her stomach flat on the bed, avoiding her injured side. She just wanted to go home.

"Alex?" A soft voice asked in question from the doorway.

Alex glanced up, her green eyes landing on a figure Alex has only recently met. Esme Perin, a woman who lived in the same building as Kerry stood in the doorway looking at her with pinched eyebrows, dressing in a pair of baby blue scrubs. "Are you okay, sweetheart? What's happened?" she asked in worry as she came in. Clicking of nails drew the girls attention to the dog trotting by the older womans side, obviously an on duty service dog. A beautiful german shepherd with bright eyes and a service dog vest looked up at her, cocking his head to the side as if sensing her emotional distress.

Blake stood up, as if to block the way of the woman as he looked at Alex, making sure it was okay for the woman to enter. Alex nodded and then turned to Esme, not really sure how to answer that question. "Uh, I was...We were...Uh…"

Esme's eyebrows pinched even more, glancing at the detective to ensure it was okay for her to approach. When it was made apparent that she was she moved around him to sit on the bed next to her. She raised a hand hesitantly, eventually having it rest onto her head, brushing hair away. "It's okay," she soothed the girl. Her grey eyes seemed to scan the girl with a certain knowledge, she had seen this look, but on men and women much older than the girl in the bed. Men and woman coming back from war with memories plugging them, haunting them. "It's okay," she repeated in her gentle voice before looking to her service dog. She made a clicking noise with her tongue and patted the bed, causing the german shepherd to leap up and lay between the two females.

The dog instantly went to Alex, licking her face. The girl moved back, a small huff that slightly resembled a chuckle. She petted the dag, running her fingers through his fur. "Who is this friendly boy?"

"This is Jax, my service dog that works with me here at the hospital," Esme told the girl gently. "I got him just after my accident."

Alex glanced up at the young woman before looking back down to the dog. It wasn't her place to ask and she honestly didn't need to know. "He's beautiful," Alex told her.

"Oh now that will just go to his head." Esme rolled her eyes, smiling sweetly at the girl, stroking her dog behind the ear. "But what he's really good at, is making you feel better when you need it most." she said, taking the girls hand in hers. Even though she had no idea what was going on, she still tried to comfort the girl.

Alex's smile fell and she pulled her hand back from Esme. She didn't need anybody to comfort her. It wasn't her that was dead. She was the one that lived. She had been the one that should have done something more. She could have tried harder to keep her parents safe,

"Alex," Esme began. "Can you tell me what happened? So I can try and help you? Please." the woman begged her gently, not in a pushing manner.

"Alex? Alex!" a voice yelled from the hallway.

Alex glanced to the door. A moment later, Elliot ran in, his hair a mess, his face extremely pale, though around his eyes were very dark. his eyes were red and puffy, evidence that he had been crying. Alex wasn't happy at that. She never wanted her brother to be in such emotional pain. He froze for a moment when he saw her on the hospital bed before he rushed to her, taking her in his arms, pulling her close to his chest.

"Oh my God," he sighed shakily. "Thank God you're okay."

Esme moved off the bed, wanting to give him more room, clicking her tongue to get Jax to stay where he was for the moment, hoping he'd help stabilize Alex's emotional levels. Her intelligent grey eyes analyzing every movement coming from the two as she stood by Detective Blake's chair.

"Hey, I'm okay," Alex groaned, having been hit in the side by her brother when he hugged her. "Shh, it's okay," she hushed, trying to comfort him.

"Okay?" he gaped, pulling back just enough to look at the girl. "Okay? Fuck, Alex. You almost died!"

"No, I didn't," she told him, placing her hand on his cheek, wiping away tears. "I'm okay, Ellie." Jax seemed to let out a whine and lick her chin again.

He sighed, nodding his head slightly, easing back onto the bed next to the dog. He glanced at it, placing his hand on the dog to pet before noticing Esme. He nodded his head to her, but didn't pay much mind at the moment. He had family to worry about.

Esme nodded back to him, her face obviously pained for him as she started to piece together the story.

A moment later, Marcus, Zack and Nathan rushed in, huffing and puffing. They moved next to the bed to be close to their sister as well.

"Jeez, El," Marcus huffed, completely out of breath. "You couldn't wait for us?"

"No," Ellie told them simply.

"What's going on, anyways?" Nathan asked. "We just get a call saying Alex is in the hospital from some shooting and that's it!"

"You okay?" Zack asked the girl, squeezing next to her.

She nodded her head, taking his hand. He was almost as visibly shaken up about the news as Ellie. Zack was the most innocent of the boys in the family. The news was going to break him into pieces.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Zack asked.

Alex's face fell even more, if that was possible. She glanced over to Detective Blake for help.

"Why don't you all sit down?" Blake asked them.

"Why do we need to sit down?" Marcus asked. "What's going on?"

"Just listen to him, Marcus," Alex told him.

Esme stepped out for the room, coming back with a few more chairs from out in the halls waiting area so to accommodate the group, also telling her supervisor she needed to care for another patient.

"Thank you, Esme," Elliot told her.

Esme smiled slightly at him. "It's no problem, kind of why I'm here." she said motioning to her baby blue scrubs and her hospital ID.

"Still, it's appreciated," Ellie told her. He turned to Blake and asked, "So, who are you?"

"I've Detective Blake with the NYPD," he introduced. "I'm very sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, and it's painful to me for a tragedy such as this has struck such a wonderful seeming family. I'm afraid that Alex and your parents had been jumped by gang members and that your mother and father didn't survive the attack," he said bowing his head. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and I promise you, my partner and I, along with the rest of the NYPD are not going to rest until those responsible are caught and brought to justice," he was quick to assure. Esme's hands were at her mouth in an instant, horror on her face before she gained control once more, looking over the family.

"Th-they're what?" Zack asked.

"B-But why?" Nathan asked.

"Your parents fought bravely but I'm afraid the gang members had guns, Alex was lucky enough to escape with only a graze from a bullet." Blake told them looking at the boys sadly

"A what?" Elliot yelled, quickly looking to the gir.

"Ellie, I'm fine," she insisted. "I've had worse."

"Worse? Worse than a gunshot? The hell you're fine!"

Esme stepped forward, placing a hand on Elliot's shoulder, easing him back with no words, just a gentle but firm touch. She looked to the girl as Jax began to whine a bit louder, pressing closer to the girl. "Alex, how are you feeling?" she asked gently. "Any pain, or maybe any dizziness?"

"I'm _fine_ ," she insisted again. She liked how she managed to calm her brother down, but Alex didn't like how Esme was drawing the attention to her. No, Alex didn't need it. She had to make sure her brother's were okay with the news.

"Alright, good." Esme said in a final like tone, glancing at Elliot as if to say, see? She turned to the boys next. "Hi," she said gently shifting away. "I'm Esme, you can call me Essy though, if you like," she said, seeming to focus on Zack, who was more visibly distressed.

"Y-Y-You're Esme?" Zack muttered, glancing up at her, mind getting distracted.

"That's right," Esme said kneeling down and taking his hands gently into hers. "It's nice to meet you." she said thumbs rubbing circles into his hands. She had to keep the nerve endings from going haywire.

"Uh, this is Zack," Alex told her. "And that's Nathan and Marcus."

Esme looked around at the boys. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," she said looking incredibly sad and honest about that fact. "How are all of you feeling?" she asked them now.

"They're gone?" Nathan muttered, pacing as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm afraid so Nathan," Esme said. She seemed determined to keep them calm, not so not to deal with it, but so they don't have panic attacks and hurt themselves.

"Why is Alex okay then?" Zack muttered. "I mean, Mom and Dad were the strongest people I ever k`1 new, besides Elliot."

"They were very brave, they protect your sister. Putting her before themselves," Blake said coming to stand behind the woman.

"A warning," Alex blurted out, looking to Elliot without realizing she was doing it. "Said something about redheads keeping out of some bosses business."

Elliot shook his head to himself, not realizing Alex knew exactly what the people had been talking about. "No," he muttered, getting up off the bed. "I-I, uh, have to make a call." With that, Elliot was out of the room.

"Speaking of call," Marcus said. "You should probably call Kerry."

Esme looked up in worry, but she couldn't follow, knowing she had to care for the younger siblings. "If, you don't feel up to it, Alex, I can call her for you," she said looking at the girl, letting her make the decision. No need to baby the girl and make her feel worse.

"Actually, I think I'll do it," Marcus said. "I mean, out of all of us, besides Al and El, she's talked to me the most."

Esme nodded as she turned to focus on his two other brothers. "Need to borrow my phone...?"

"No, I got it," Marcus said, placing a grateful hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."

Esme smiled and took his hand, squeezing it. "No problem, sweetheart."

"Could I borrow your phone?" Alex asked, slowly getting off the bed. "I don't have mine and I need to make a call too."

"To whom?" Zack asked.  
"Raph, stupid," Nathan muttered, rolling his eyes, but with a small smirk in place.

 _Uh, yeah. We'll go with that,_ she thought. "Please?"

"Of course," Esme said pulling the device from her pocket and handing it over. She clicked her tongue and Jax hopped from the bed to go see his master, who introduced him to Zack.

Elliot came back into the room, looking rather angry. Alex passed him, knowing very well he was angry with Mortu because of this. She walked into the bathroom and locked the door. She turned the faucet on, hoping to mask the sound of her talking. However, she was sure Esme would keep them talking.

Alex dialed the number and listened as it rang.

" _Hello? Who is this? How did you get this number?"_

"Mr. Mortu?" Alex asked. "This is Alex O'Neil. Elliot's sister?"

" _Of course, child. I'm sorry about that,"_ he told her.

"I want in," she told him. "I want to take you up on your offer."

" _Wonderful. We'd be lucky to have you in the Guardians,_ " he said, though he was slightly hesitant. And Alex knew why. " _And I'm sorry to hear about your parents, child. Nobody should have to go through that."_

"No, they shouldn't," Alex muttered to herself.

" _I'll be in touch with you, child,"_ he told her. " _I already have your number. Which was why I was surprised to have this number pop up."_

"I borrowed a phone," she told him.

" _Of course,"_ he said. " _I'll be in touch."_

"Thank you," she told him before hanging up.

* * *

Alex was sitting wide awake with her legs crossed under her as the television handing on the wall played with no sound. Zack was sleeping at the bottom of the bed she was in, wrapped in a ball with his feet hanging halfway off. Marcus was asleep with his head back in the chair next to her, and Nathan was asleep on the window ledge. Elliot had left, though not without some struggle, to go to work. Esme had spoken with him briefly about something before she had to go continue on her shift, promising to return with Jax later to check on them. Detective Blake gave Alex his personal number, telling her to call him if she ever needed anything before leaving with Detective Longer. April had stopped by as well, having been called by Elliot. She stayed for several hours until being shooed away by Alex, knowing April needed rest. April had agreed to call Robyn for them, as well.

So Alex was left with the room full of sleeping people, unable to fall asleep herself due to refusing to take any of the medications the nurses offered to help with that. That was until the door burst open, revealing a breathless Kerry, who was shoving off some very disgruntled nurses. She didn't have a lick of make-up on, was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and had none of her other 'punk' accessories. She just looked like a very young and very scared girl.

Alex put her finger to her lips, motioning for her to be quiet because of her brothers. They needed their rest. Kerry glared at the girl, before kicking the door shut. She marched over to the bed, looking over the siblings. There was a moment of silence as Kerry stood there, hands on her hips green eyes trembling as if holding something back.

Alex got up slowly, making sure not to hurt herself. She grabbed Kerry's wrist and pulled her out of the room and down the semi-lit hallway until they reached one of the small waiting rooms. Alex shut the door behind them to prevent any noise from getting out into the hallway and disturbing the other patients.

"What," She started but had to clear her throat. "What the hell happened?" she asked, voice still wavering.

"Jumped by Purple Dragons," Alex told her.

Kerry gritted her teeth, hand going into her short hair as she began to pace. "And your parents..." Kerry began.

Alex shook her head slowly, looking out the window. "Mom…" she started to say. "Mom went down first." Alex glanced down at her hands, still feeling the blood on them despite having been cleaned hours before. "Dad jumped in front of a bullet for me."

"It wasn't your fault," Kerry said automaticly. "Listen to me right now, before you even think it, it wasn't your fault." She said pointing to the girl. "None of that is on you, it's the fucking assholes that I'm going to castrate."

"I was trying to stop Mom's bleeding," Alex told her, wiping her hands on her pants.

Kerry breathed through her nose and moved over to her, taking her friends hands in hers and squeezing them. "Alex," Kerry said.

"I'm sorry, Kerry," Alex told her. "You were close to them too. You cared about them too. You've lost people too."

"Christ, Alex," Kerry said, tears finally falling. "They were your freaking parents, not mine and you're apologizing to me?"

"I read the letter you gave them," she told her. "Mom hung it up in their room with the painting. I know how you felt about them. I'm sorry."

"S-She, she what?" Kerry mumbled eyes wide. It was obvious the girl had never thought the letter would mean as much as it apparently did.

"She thought of you like a daughter, you know," Alex said with a soft smiled. She reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You're family."

"S-She...I...we... _why?_ " Kerry finally settled on asking as tears only came faster, throat closing up. "Why them? W-Why now? Things were going so great for everyone and and...I'm going to fucking murder them." Kerry growled, green eyes going dark and growing a spark of insanity Alex had never seen before.

"No, Elliot is," Alex told her, clenching her fists. "And if he doesn't, I get next crack at it."

" _We_ get next crack." Kerry corrected her.

"No," Alex said, thinking about the Guardians. "I do. They're mine."

"Fine then, I get to watch then. But if you think I'm going to sit here and let them get away without having some hand in catching them, you are so fucking wrong. I'm helping no matter what, so get over yourself," Kerry said.

Alex didn't know if that was possible, seeing as Alex was going to be in the Guardians and wouldn't be allowed to tell Kerry any of it.

"Have you told the guys?" Kerry mumbled. They're lives were so mixed together now, there was no way they could keep it separate.

Alex sighed, taking to one of the extremely uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. She shook her head, glancing down at her hands. "I don't know how to tell them," she told her. "I mean, I rehearsed what I said to you a hundred time in my head."

"Hey, I got no problem talking," Kerry mumbled. "I got it." she said placing a hand on her shoulder. "You head back and rest."

"You don't have to do that," Alex told her. "I mean, they're not you-"

"Yeah, yeah I do," Kerry corrected once more. "And they kind of were. I mean, you've met my real mom."

"How can she just leave you like that?" Alex asked, grateful for something other than her life for once to talk about.

"Mom never wanted kids, my dad and her worked together and started a fling, never expected I'd be the result. And she said my dad just disappeared." Kerry explained as she pulled her phone out. "She loves me, but...doesn't know what to do with me."

"What a fucking dick!" Alex screeched about her father.

"Chill, Alex," Kerry said surprisingly calm about it. "You can't really miss what you never had."

"Sure you can," Alex said. "You can long for what a father provides. I mean, you see if everywhere." Alex sighed. "I can't believe people like that. I mean, I can't wait for when I'm older and have kids."

"That kind of pain is nothing new to me, you become desensitized," Kerry kind of explained, not knowing how to put it exactly. "Eventually all your imaginings on what your life would be like with that kind of love pales in comparison to what it truly would be like."

"And now neither of us have our parents around," Alex muttered.

"But," Kerry mumbled quietly. "We do have each other...and Elliot. Elliot will know what to do...won't he?" Kerry mumbled quietly.

"Maybe," Alex muttered. _Or maybe Mortu will be able to calm him down. Who knows with either of them._

"And the guys," Kerry said quickly now. "We have the guys. Speaking of which go lay down or something, you're pale as an anemic vampire."

"Just, uh," Alex muttered,standing up. "Make sure you tell them not to come over today." It was, after all, Sunday now. "Kind of have to do the funeral arrangements.

"Right," Kerry said. "We have work to do."


	3. Funeral

Chapter 3

Funeral

It wasn't until Thursday that the bodies were released to the O'Neil's (Though really they weren't released to them, of course. To the funeral home.). Friday was when the wake was to be held. Alex and Nathan started to make all of the arrangements, but then Nathan started to really take it hard, so Alex finished doing it all on her own.

Alex had also stayed home from school that whole time, taking off time from April's shop, and closing the dojo for the week, as well as taking a week off from tutoring. It was a full time job making sure her brothers got out of bed and tried to function properly. Kerry would have to go to school, considering she wasn't really their daughter, but she would come over as soon as the final bell rang. She would bring Alex's work for her, and helping her with her brothers.

That morning, Alex had gotten up early to put the boys suits together, seeing as they had no idea where they were. They almost never had to wear them, and Alex had always helped her mom with things like that. She felt obligated to help get everything ready for them, making it easier on them.

A couple hours later, Alex was standing next to her brothers, April and Robyn at the funeral home, in the lineup for the people to talk to them before paying their respects to her parents. Kerry, who had gotten there right before the calling hours began, had been taking up a position behind Alex and her brothers and going to sit down for several minutes when Alex insisted she relax before going back over to her family.

"Hello Alex," a now familiar voice said approaching from the entrance. Esme approached, a somber look on her face as Jax came in, head lowered. The woman was dressed in a simple sweetheart neckline black dress that swirled around her knees, revealing a nude colored prosthetic. It was arched so she could slip a pair of black pumps on. It was amazing she could walk in heels with a prosthetic leg when some women wobbled in 2 inch heels with their own two feet.

"Esme," Alex said, slightly surprised to see her. "Hi, uh, thanks for coming." She bent down, scratching Jax behind his ears. "Hey Buddy. Thanks for coming." She slowly glanced up at the woman, her eyes catching her prosthetic leg before going up to meet her eyes.

Jax seemed to whine a bit, licking her hand and pressing his nose against it. Esme smiled a bit sadly. "I hope it's alright, but I felt a need to be here for you. As well as Kerry," Esme said looking around for the girl. "She said she'd be fine, but you know how much of a tough air she puts up around her self."

Alex nodded her head, standing back up, but still petting the dog. "That she does," she agreed. "And really, thanks for coming. It means a lot to me. And I know it will for Ellie. Even if you're not interested in him."

Esme's cheeks colored. "We might not be dating but Elliot is still a wonderfully kind man. He's suffering just as much as you children are and I think he needs someone close to his age here." Esme nodded and looked the girl over. "...Alex, when was the last time you rested? Or eaten?"

In all honesty, Alex hadn't really eaten in a couple days. She just wasn't hungry at all. And she hadn't slept for that matter. Several times she tried, but every time she closed her eyes, all she saw were the events playing over again in her mind. And the other times, as she stayed awake, she went to her brothers rooms, finding them crying in their sleep. She stayed with them, comforting them.

"I don't know," she answered. "Today's been kind of a blur, you know?"

Esme pursed her lips slightly before reaching into her bag. "I assumed as much, and I suppose there is nothing I can say to get you to eat anything now?" she said knowingly she pulled out a bottle of some kind of juice as if having prepared for this, pressing it into her hands.

"Uh, thanks," Alex muttered. "Why don't you say hi to the rest of the guys?" she suggested, gesturing to her brothers.

"I can't have you sick," Esme said softly giving the girl a quick hug. "You and Kerry worry me." She sighed before nodding. "I will, I'll see you later, Alex," the woman said before walking away, surprisingly graceful. Jax gave her hand one more lick before following his mistress.

Just thinking about drinking the apple juice made her feel sick to her stomach.

Alex turned around and walked out to the hallway. She was going to toss out the box of apple juice. Just as she was about to toss it out, however, Zack walked by, furiously wiping at his eyes as he headed towards the bathroom.

Alex gulped, feeling her throat tighten up. She hated, _hated_ seeing her brother like that. Sweet and innocent Zack was always so happy and trying to make people laugh. It was breaking her heart to see him like that. That was the reason why she followed him down another hallway, around the corner from the bathroom, where she found him sitting against the wall, trying to calm himself down.

She sat down on the ground next to him, simply handing him he juice box and taking his other hand in hers. She knew that Zack was a hugger, but he wasn't really in the mood for a hug. He wanted to be alone. But she knew him better than that. Zack didn't need solitude. He just needed someone to let him know they were there. Not to talk to him, not to tell him everything was alright. She just needed to sit there and silently reassure him that they knew exactly what they were going through.

Foot steps sounded approaching them and Alex looked up to see a down cast Kerry looking down at them, her face pale and eyes drawn. She sat down on the other side of Zack and shifted against the boy's side so his arm draped over her slightly and just laid there with them, staring at the ground with him.

"Look at me," Zack muttered with a small huff that resembled a lifeless chuckle. Alex glanced up to see a small smirk on his lips. "I'm the ladies man now. I've got girls hanging all over me."

Alex snorted, rolling her eyes as she laid her head on his shoulder. "One of which is your sister," she told him.

"You're not your type," Kerry joked softly head resting against his chest.

"Nah, you two aren't my type either," he said, resting his head on Alex's while taking Kerry's hand in his free one. "I don't think my girlfriend would like that either. But all the same, you two are two great girls."

"Thanks, Zacky," Kerry mumbled softly.

"How is Amy, by the way?" Alex asked.

Amy Sanders was Zack's girlfriend that went to college upstate. They had been together since his senior year of high school, and they decided to stay together and be in a long distance relationship. They were doing very well too. Every month Zack would go up and visit her, sometimes even a week at a time.

"She's great," he told her. "She wanted to come down, but I told her not to. She has a big test this week. It counts for a third of her grade. She's going to come down this weekend though."

"That sounds good, being able to see her might help," Kerry said squeezing his hand, her brothers hand.

"She never got to meet mom and dad," he muttered, head falling forward slightly.

"It's okay," Aled told him. "You know they loved her. You talked about her enough for them to know her."

"You think so?" Zack asked.

"I know so," Alex assured her.

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "I'm just glad they got to meet Raph. I mean, They've met so many girls because of us boys, but you? They never meet anybody that you took an interest in until Raph. I know that made them happy. They were so happy to know their little girl had someone to take care of you. And they'd be happy to know he's here for you now."

"They liked him," Kerry mumbled.

Alex glanced over at Kerry, giving her that, "but the whole thing is a lie" look. She hated that she lied to her parents and that she never got to tell them the truth. Kerry knew that but they did like Raph, no matter if they were really dating or not.

"Oh, hey, here they are!" a familiar boyish voice sounded from the entrance of the hallway.

Alex glanced up to see Mikey standing there, looking over at the three. He headed towards them, followed by his brothers. Alex stood up, pulling Zack with her. She then turned to Mikey and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug.

"Hey," she greeted softly. "Thanks for coming, Mikey."

Mikey nodded his head gently. Alex could feel it against her head. She sighed, pulling back from his sweet hug.

"We couldn't just not come. Your parents were amazing to us," Leo said moving in to hug her as well as Mikey moved on to hug Kerry, even giving a side hug to Zack. Leo wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her in.

"Of course they would be," Alex said, kissing him on the cheek before pulling back. _You guys are the best_. Leo kissed her forehead before moving on after his brother, bringing Kerry into an embrace, chin resting on her head for a second.

Don approached Alex, hugging her tightly before she could say anything. "Are you okay?" Don asked for the millionth time.

"Mm," she hummed against his chest, resting her head there as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "You should check on Kerry," she whispered to him. "She's taking this hard, but she's trying not to show it so it doesn't affect anybody else." She pulled back slightly before moving to his ear, where she whispered, "She needs you right now more than ever."

Don looked at her as he pulled away, his genius eyes analyzing her. "Are you sure you're not the same?" he mumbled but he did look to Kerry, worry more present than ever on his face now that she told him that.

Alex didn't answer that. Instead, she let go and softly said, "Go to your girl, Casanova. She needs her Knight in Purple Armor."

Don bit his lip before nodding and heading over to the dark haired girl. She stood there, eyes glued to the floor refusing to look at him. "Hey," he said gently, reaching out to take her hands in his. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Kerry said quickly taking a step back, eyes squeezing shut. If she looked at him she might not be able to keep it together.

Don didn't let go of her hands though. "Are you sure?" he asked her, giving her hand slight pull, trying to bring her to him into a hug.

Kerry trembled slightly as she stumbled into him. "...I have to be," was all she said, forehead resting on his chest.

"No, you don't," he told her, holding her tightly. One hand gently smoothed out her hair.. "You're allowed to feel pain and let it out."

"I have to be...I just have to be," Kerry said shaking her head but finally hugging him back hiding away in his arms, face hidden in his chest as Leo reached out and also stroke her hair. and Don held her tightly, hushing her comfortingly.

Alex sighed, watching the two for a moment. She knew exactly how Kerry was because it was the same thing she was doing. She was trying to make everybody else feel better, completely shoving down her own pain to make sure everybody else would be okay. It was easier to deal with them instead of herself. She held them to a higher regard than she did herself. Which was why she knew exactly why Kerry needed Don there. She needed to look at him and break down, to let all of the pain out.

And that was why Alex wasn't looking towards Raph. She moved to her brother, moving under his arm in order to prevent Raph from going over to her and hugging her, which would eventually lead her to breaking down. She couldn't do that. Not now. Not there. Not when everybody else was so vulnerable and needed to see someone else that was strong to help them be stronger. She needed to be that person.

Raph obviously wasn't having it as he reached out and took her hand, tugging at it like Don had done with Kerry. He pulled her completely away from the group, down the hallway with her trying to pull herself out of his grasp, almost swearing up a storm as she was dragged outside through an emergency exit and into the back alley.

"Let _go_!" she nearly screamed, only looking at his hand in her's as she tried to slip out of it. "Raph, I have to go back inside! Let go!"

"You're avoiding me, and I know why. That's not how things work with us. We talk, we express how we feel," Raph said shortly his her, gripping her hand tightly. "I know you're trying to be strong for your family, and it's understandable, but your getting sick! Your face is pale, and you have bags under your eyes. When was the last time you ate?!" he snapped.

Alex believed it to be several days, but she wasn't going to tell him that. "I made breakfast this morning," she told him, hoping he'd take it and believe it.

"Okay so you made it, but did you eat it? You've lost weight," Raph said. Did he pay that much attention that he could tell that about her?

Alex bit her lip, looking over to the door to try and hold back the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes. "Let me go," she muttered. "I can't do this right now. Not with all those people in there. It's disrespectful for me to just leave."

"No," Raph said. "They get it. They know you need time to grieve. They were your parents, Alex," he said darkly to her. "If Don dragged Kerry out here would you be offended?"

"She's technically not related," Alex muttered, trying to justify it, though knowing it wasn't going to work. Kerry was family. "I'm supposed to be in there, for my _brothers_ , for our _friends_ , for my _parents_. Not out here in the _cold_ with _you_!" She turned and tried to pull herself out of his hand. She knew it wouldn't work, but she had to turn away from him. The tears were starting to pool out of her eyes and she couldn't let him see that.

"Who does that leave to be there for you, huh?" Raph said only pulling her back, he was stronger than her by far and was going to use that to his advantage.

She shook her head, a shiver running through her body from the cold. He bit her lip, trying not to cry. She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing deeply before begging, "Let go."

"I told you, I'm never letting you go. Not when you need me." Raph said darkly to her taking her face in his other hand, moving her head to finally look up at him.

His green eyes looked into her's, and Alex couldn't hold it back anymore. All week she had been holding everything in. Not once did she cry. At first it was because how angry she was at The Shredder, and the people who did it, as well as herself. Then it was to make sure she was strong for her brothers and Kerry and April and Robyn. But Raph wasn't letting her be the strong one. He was forcing her to step back to breathe and cry, despite how much she didn't want to. She crumpled, clasping onto his black button down shirt, shaking as she sobbed. Raph was so warm, and being close to him like that, knowing that he wanted to make her feel better, made her extremely happy as well as extremely angry. She didn't deserve to feel good. Her parents were _dead_. Her _father_ was _dead_. Because of her!

"I-I-I'm supposed to be dead. Not him," she sobbed. "It's my fault he's dead. He's dead because of me, Raph." She shook her head, making herself dizzy from how hungry she truly was, her legs giving out from under her. "I killed my Dad."

Raph caught the girl, bringing her close and holding her hip, acting as her strength. She flinched slightly when his arm hit her graze wound though. "You're father loved you, Alex. He was your father. Of course he's going to protect you. He'd want you to know you did _not_ kill him. It was those damn punks. He'd be upset to see what you were doing to yourself."

She shook her head again, much slower this time. "I can't let the boys see me like this," she muttered. "Th-they need someone there for them. They need to know someone is strong. Th-they can't do it on their own. I know them. I know how mom and dad were with them. I-I couldn't just leave them and not try and help like they did."

"Okay but guess what, that isn't supposed to be your job," Raph said to her. "You're a teen, Alex. You're not supposed to take care of people as much as you do. Neither one of you are,"supposed

"They're my brothers," she told him. "And I love them. I'd do anything for them. You can't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing for your family."

"Exactly! Your family! That means you take care of each other in equal exchange!" Raph said.

She shook her head again. "I don't want them to ever see me like this," she admitted, her hands loosening up on her hold of his shirt. They gently and slowly smoothed the material back into place, as if trying to iron out the creases she had put in it. "They need this from me right now. And I can take it. I could've taken it," she corrected. She buried her head into the crook of his neck. "Until you came," she added. "You had to ruin everything, coming here and making me cry." She sighed, easing into his warm hold. He was so much warmer than the air around them as they stood outside. "Stubborn Pumpkin."

"I can handle being the bad guy here," Raph mumbled a bit hugging her tighter.

Alex's stomach flipped. She moved and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Mm," she hummed. "Not bad guy. Caring."

"Can't I be both?" he chuckled.

Alex shook her head slightly, which resulted in herself nuzzling her nose into his neck. "You can try, but you're not the bad guy. You never will be. Your heart's too good for that. That's why you're my guy." She blinked, realizing exactly what she had said. She just hoped he didn't take it the way she truly meant it.

"Yeah yeah, and you're my girl," Raph said affectionately. "You ready to head in?"

Alex shook her head again. "Let's stay out here for a couple more minutes." Raph was just so warm, and she wanted to enjoy being helped by him like that as long as she could.

"As long as you want," Raph promised softly, stroking her hair gently.

"Thanks for coming, Raph," Alex told him, pulling back ever so slightly just to look up into his eyes, She was still pressed firmly against his chest, her arms around his neck. "It means everything to me."

"The guys and I wouldn't miss it. I mean, we're all family right? We're all worried about you and the hick," Raph mumbled.

"We'll be okay, eventually," she said. "Right? I mean, the pain will go away, right?"

"Well, I think if I ever lost my dad the pain would always be there, but after time it would get easier to handle. I'd remember the good memories more than the pain of loss, you know?"

"I don't sleep," she told him.

"You really should Alex, that not healthy," Raph mumbled softly looking down at her. "I'll call you tonight and talk with you until you fall asleep if it would help."

"You would?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Of course," Raph said nodding his head. "You'd obviously do the same for us if we lost Master Splinter."

"It's just, falling asleep isn't the problem," she admitted, feeling rather embarrassed. "E-Everytime I fall asleep, all I see is it happening all over again. I hear my dad yell, and I see him go down. I can still feel the blood on my hands."

"I'm not one to normally suggest this, but maybe you should look into some sleep aid medication. A deep enough sleep would keep the nightmares away." Raph suggested.

"I don't like that," she told him. "They make me foggy."

"That's because you're supposed to sleep after taking them, not fight against them." Raph rolled his eyes. "And Prescription ones are supposed to work better than over the counter."

Alex, in turn, rolled her own green eyes. "I do sleep after them, sometimes," she told him. "And they don't help."

"Have you tried any meditation techniques. That can help you clear your mind. Mikey falls right to sleep after meditation." He rolled his eyes. "And during meditation."

"Of course he does," Alex muttered, resting her head against his chest. "Mikey could fall asleep anywhere doing anything." She sighed, her hand gently running down his back before shifting to his hips, gently rubbing circles into his side with her thumbs. "I wish I could do that."

"It's some talent, let me tell you," Raph scoffed slightly.

"I can't remember the last time I felt rested," she admitted with a sigh. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, catching the smell of what she recognised as cinnamon. The smell was Raph, and it comforted her a great deal. She sighed once more before opening her eyes and pulling back. "We need to go back in." She said that, but didn't movie. "I don't want to go back in."

"Yeah, but your brothers probably need you." Raph sighed. "Come on, let's get this done okay?"

"Can't we just sneak off like normal teenagers and make out or something?" she joked, taking his hand as she opened the door with the other.

"No can do, Firecracker. I think that'd be a tad inappropriate," Raph joked back at her.

"But far more enjoyable," she muttered, leaning her head against his arm as they walked.

"Got that right." He chuckled.

"Raph?" Alex asked, glancing up at him through her lashes.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she told him. "You know, for everything."

"Anytime, I told you that before." He smiled. "Anytime."


	4. Sweet Sleeptalker

Chapter 4

Sweet Sleeptalker

"You don't have to do this," Alex told him, walking into her bedroom in her shorts and tank top. She was pulling her hair down from her ponytail as she plopped down onto the bed, crossing her legs. She looked up at Raph, who was laying back on her bed, arms behind his head. He seemed all too comfortable on her bed. She scoffed in a rather unladylike manor and said, "Make yourself comfortable, why don't ya."

"I want to, holding this in isn't healthy." Raph scoffed back at her. "Thanks, I already am."

Alex rolled her eyes. "It doesn't mean you have to be here to make sure I fall asleep," she told him. She moved herself in a way to get the blanket out from under her, though Raph was still laying on top of half of it. "Oh, would you get _off_ the blanket?" she asked. "I mean, if you're going to be a creeper and watch me sleep, you may as well get in."

"Relax Alex." Raph rolled his eyes. "It's all good. 'Sides, we sent Don over to watch Kerry so it's not just me." He chuckled and slipped under the blanket. "Poor guy was red in the face when he asked."

"Hm," she hummed, thinking as she laid back onto her pillow. "I wonder if they'll cuddle, or if he's just sit there."

Raph raised an eyebrow at her. "This is Donatello we're talking about here..." he said pointedly.

"Yes, be he loooooves her," she giggled. "He'd so take any chance he's get at being close to her. You know that."

"Yeah, but his brain might implode." Raph chuckled wrapping an arm around her.

Alex moved in closer, her face red as she placed a hand on his chest, her head on his shoulder as she laid on her side. "Maybe for once he'll just feel," she thought. "Maybe Kerry will. She needs to feel close to someone right now, you know? And speaking of the two of them, we haven't been doing very well with operation Korny."

"No we haven't." Raph sighed a bit. "Kerry's the problem," he grunted. "She's fighting it tooth and nail."

"You're preaching to the choir, babe," she muttered. "I'm the one that's working with her."

"I don't understand why she refuses to even think about being in a relationship with him. You don't think she got over her crush on him do you?" Raph asked.

"Hell no," Alex scoffed. "She's head over heels for that boy and there is no way she's falling out of it."

"Good. Don got hit hard with that arrow too. It's almost painful to watch him pine over her."

"And it isn't Kerry?" she retorted. "I have to listen to her talk about him, and try to convince her to go for it. And every time I do, she shoots it down. I'm about ready to just shove them both into a closet and not let them out until they're together." She sat up slightly, her hand still resting on his chest as she leaned over him ever so slightly to look at him more straight on. She didn't realize she was practically half way on top of him. "What do you think?"

"Tch," Raph fought back a laugh lifting a hand up to running fingers through her hair. "I don't know, I hear stories of foxes chewing off their own limbs to get free of traps," he joked.

"Hm, but Don isn't a trap. To her, he's appealing," she thought, tilting her head subconsciously into his hand as she enjoyed the feeling of him playing with her hair.

"She's a runner though. He's going to have to catch her first before she gives in." Raph pointed out.

"Don's a fast boy, quick thinker, quick reactor," she said. "And boy, does she want to give in." And shifted once more, back into her resting position with her head on his shoulder, hand still resting on his chest. However, now she shifted a leg,wrapping one over the closest leg of Raph to her. She normally laid with her legs pulled closer up to her, so she was trying to figure out a more comfortable way to sleep. "Have I ever told you that you smell good?" Alex asked, diverting off topic.

"I think so? If not thanks." Raph chuckled. "I shower regularly."

" _Wow_ , a boy that actually showers _regularly_ ," Alex gasped playfully. "Who knew!"

"I know right?" Raph pretended to gush.

Alex rolled her eyes but chuckled, burying her face into the crook of his neck."You smell like cinnamon," she told him. "It's a warm smell; welcoming, comforting. At least, to me it is."

"Thanks, you smell pretty nice too...I guess," Raph mumbled, unsure how to say it without sounding stupid.

"Thank you," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. She was thankful that it was dark in there, otherwise he would see her pink cheeks."I aim to please."

"Well you do a good job." He rolled his eyes a bit.

"Raph, can I ask you something kind of personal?" she asked a moment after the silence. "W-Why didn't you like me when we first me? Did I, I don't know, say something or do something that gave you the wrong impression?"

"It was." Raph paused for a minute before sighing. "It was nothing you did. I've always been rather...over protective and shrewd when it came to my family. I mean, each of us grew up in an orphanage before finding each other, do you know how many times we were almost separated? How close we came to losing one another? Mikey almost got adopted once but he threw such a tantrum that the couple backed out. Don got beat up pretty bad by some older kids that he was almost sent to another home, Leo and I had to track the kids down to put an end to it. We all had close calls until Master Splinter adopted us when we were seven, but we still have this fear of being separated," Raph confessed the most honest he's ever been.

"I-I'm sorry, Alex, I didn't mean to tell you all that. I just want you to understand it was nothing you did, it was just my protective nature coming out. I'm sorry," he apologized, hold on her relaxing as if he were to let go.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she told him, her thumb rubbing a soothing circle on his chest. "It's not important right now. And I'm really glad you told me that. I never really knew anything about your lives before you moved in with Master Splinter. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. You guys deserved far better than that."

"We got that went we found eachother. It was like finding a home," Raph mumbled.

"It's been far too quiet around here," Alex sighed. "The guys aren't themselves. And obviously that's understandable, but it's not making this place making it feel like a home anymore. It makes me not want to be here."

"It's going to be like that for a bit, but it will get better. Besides you can always go stay with Kerry, I'm sure she'd like the company."

"I couldn't leave my brothers alone though," Alex said. "They're scaring me right now. I've never seen them like this. I'm afraid they'll hurt themselves, you know?"

"They wouldn't betray their parents memory like that, at least I don't think."

"I don't either," Alex answered honestly. "But it still scares me. And I can't help but think it, you know?"

"Yeah, but you also can't be a million places at once for them." Raph sighed.

"I know," she sighed. "I just, they're, you know, they're my brothers and I worry. I love them and I hate that they're in pain."

"They have to work through their own pain, that''s the only way." Raph told.

She nodded with a soft sigh. "Right," she muttered. "And I just wanted to thank you again," she told him. "Thanks for being here with me, Raph. If it wasn't for you, I don't know how I'd be."

"I told you a million times, Alex. I'm here for you," he said seriously.

She sat up just enough to place a lingering kiss on his cheek. "I know," she said softly. "And I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks." Raph smiled and kissed her forehead.

"My brother's extremely piss at us for this," Alex laughed.

"Me staying here. Oh yeah I bet," Raph snickered slightly.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Alex told him. "I don't think I've been this comfortable in a long time."

"I'm glad to be here." He smirked.

"Let me know if your arms starts to fall asleep though," she told him. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'm fine, Mikey was a cuddler as a kid so I woke up more than once with no feeling." Raph chuckled.

"Huh, I never knew you were the kind of guy to cuddle with your brothers," she said. "Was it nightmares or something?"

"When we were really little on stormy nights we'd all gather in the living room and build forts out of blankets and cushions and all sleep in there. After all, for the longest time, we were the only comfort for each other."

"That's so cute," Alex said, a small smile on her face. "My brothers and I would do that too, but not exactly with the whole comfort thing. Though it seems more meaningful with yours." She sighed, rolling over to to her other side, her back to Raph. She moved off of his arm, and he too rolled so that he could put his arm around her, pulling her back to his chest. She blushed slightly from that. "I kind of miss those days. No cares at all. Just playing and having fun."

"Innocence is bliss, I guess, or something like that." Raph shrugged.

"I can't wait to do it with my kids someday," she muttered without thinking. "I love kids."

"You got a little while." Raph chuckled.

"I know," she laughed. "I'm not in a hurry. It's just one of the things I'm really looking forward to, you know? I always wanted a family. I mean, not that my brothers aren't my family, but you know what I mean."

"I get ya," Raph chuckled a bit more rolling his eyes.

"Is there anything you look forward to?" she asked. "Anything at all? It doesn't have to be a family or anything."

"I want to say teaching my kids sports, especially hockey," Raph said. "We'd make it a family thing you know?"

"You'd be great at that," Alex told him. "Oh, hey. Did I tell you I got Elliot tickets for the rest of the season for Christmas?"

"Really? Man if he liked me more I'd ask to go with him," Raph laughed.

"Hey, I'm sure if you asked he'd say yes," Alex told him, turning over to face him. "Bonding time and all that."

"Nice try. But your brother doesn't exactly like me, remember?"

"He likes you," Alex said. "He's just protective. You know that. But I was going somewhere with mentioning that. He can't make it to the next game, so he gave me the tickets. You want to go?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I really would." Raph nodded.

"Cool," she said, resting her head against his chest. "It's a date."

"It's a date." He agreed. "Now go to sleep." he ordered.

Alex groaned. "Okay," she sighed. "Goodnight, Raph."

"Night Alex," he replied to her quietly.

* * *

Alex jolted from her sleep, gasping to catch her breathe. Panting, the girl sighed, wiping sweat off of her forehead and sitting up. Her face was soaked from tears and sweat. Raph's arm was wrapped around her waist, causing her eyes to retail up his arm and to his peaceful, sleeping face. Alex sighed, gently rubbing his arm that was wrapped around her. The contact was comforting.

And with the nightmare she had just had, she needed to know that Raph was okay. She had dreamt that the gang members had tracked her, her family and the Hamatos. They held a gun to her and shot, but Raph, much like Alex's father, had jumped in front of her. He died in her arms before she woke up.

Raph groaned a bit as she shifted, not awaking at her movement.

Alex sighed, glad that he was okay, as well as asleep. It was more than she could have ask for just having him there with her, she didn't want to make him lose sleep over her. As much as she loved talking to him, she didn't want to cause him any trouble. She moved her hand up to his face and moved a piece of hair away from his forehead. Her hand when to his cheek after that, gently caressing it before she moved it back to his arm.

"Don, keep it down. We can hear you from the living room," Raph mumbled in his sleep. "She's not even that hot," he grumbled.

Alex blushed, realizing what Raph was talking about. It was rather uncomfortable to think about Donatello doing something like that. He was practically her brother, and anything like that just creeped her out.

 _Kerry is too that hot,_ Alex thought with a small huff, moving her hand up into Raph's hair, playing with it as she watched him bury his face into the pillow slightly. _Huh, I wonder if that actually happened,_ she wondered. She shook her head, fingers knitting into his hair. _Uh, I really don't want to know that._

"Alex," Raph mumbled, leaning into her hand.

Alex jumped slightly, not expecting him to say her name. Had she woken him up? "Yeah?" she whispered, thinking that she had woken him up. As he continued to nuzzle into her hand, she could see his eyes were still closed. He was still asleep.

"Come sit with me, I don't like you being so far away," the boy mumbled sounding a bit sad in his sleep.

Alex blushed again. Her lips turned upright slightly. _He doesn't like to be away from me?_ she thought. She gently massaged his head, her stomach feeling ten time warmer than it had several moments before after waking up from her nightmare. "I'm right here," she told the sleeping teen soothingly. "I'm not going anywhere, Raph. I promise."

"Good. Mine."

 _His? But that would be we're actually dating and we're not! We're not dating. We're faking and he doesn't like me_ , she thought. But she couldn't deny that hearing that come out of his mouth got her hopes up. If only he actually called her his while he was awake. She would have melted right then and there. She really wanted to be his and she wanted him to be hers.

"Always," she muttered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. She rested there for a moment, her nose on his forehead, her head slightly buried in his hair. "I love you, Raph," she told him.

Alex blinked, eyes going wide. _Oh crap! I can't believe I just said that!_ She moved back, placing the hand that had been in his hair over her mouth. _What the hell did I do that for! Shit, I hope he didn't actually hear that!_

Raph smirked and mumbled incoherently before burrowing his face into the pillow more, pulling her a little closer by his arm around her waist. His arm dug into her injured side, causing her to wince and hiss.

 _Okay, there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep after that little confession_ , she thought, gently removing Raph's arm from around her to slip out of bed. She turned to Raph and pulled the blanket up more to make sure he was still warm and comfortable. The girl turned and quietly made her way out of the room and to the kitchen. It was time for breakfast.

* * *

Alex hummed softly to herself, making her way back to her room with the tray of food. She backed into her door, pushing it open with her rear. After she entered, she kicked the door shut with her foot before turning to her bed. She placed the tray down on her bedside table before sitting down on her bed. She had made everybody eggs, toast and bacon for breakfast.

Raph was turned over, laying flat on his stomach with his face buried in the pillow. He snored evenly, causing the girl to smirk and roll her eyes. She placed a hand on his arm, gently rubbing to to try and wake him up. "Raph," she softly sang. "Time to get up, Pumpkin."

Raph snorted, but didn't wake up. Alex huffed, realizing that Raph wasn't going to be an easy fellow to wake up. Alex took a piece of bacon off her plate and held it in front of his nose, hoping it would wake him up. He moaned in delight, but once again, did not wake up. Deciding that she didn't want the food to get cold, Alex went directly for Raph's hair, grasping it a little roughly and gave it a sharp tug (though not enough where it would hurt the slumbering buffoon).

"A-Ah!" Raph said sitting up eyes opening up wide, he rolled over, running one of his hand through his hair where Alex had grabbed. "W-What the hell!"

Alex turned and picked up the tray. "You wouldn't wake up," she told him, blushing slightly at his red face. "And I figured I'd be forgiven for doing it since I brought you bacon."

"...Bacon is an acceptable apology in my house," Raph mumbled once his brain registered the smell and sight of the food in her hands.

Alex chuckled, handing him a plate before moving into a more comfortable position on the bed. She leaned up against her headboard, resting against her pillow with Raph doing the same right next to her. "I figured you'd like it. It _is_ bacon, after all."

"You figured right." Raph mumbled as he began to scarf down the food. "Thanks, but what's with the special treatment?"

Alex shrugged, taking a bite of her buttered toast. "You stayed the night, so I figured the least I could do was feed you."

"Thanks," Raph mumbled, honestly thankful for it.

"Hey, did you know you talk in your sleep?" Alex teased.

"Hm?" he asked as he took another bite. "Uh yeah, my brothers say I do when I'm restless."

"Restless?" she asked. "You didn't sleep well?"

"No I did, but as a ninja in new surroundings my sense won't completely shut down, you know? Did I wake you up?"

"Nah," she told him. "I only heard because I had already woken up."

"Oh, nightmare?" Raph asked worriedly.

"Yeah," she muttered, glancing up at him. There was no way she could admit that it was of him dying. "But it was a better night sleep than I've had in a while," she told him honestly. "I think that's because of you," she admitted, blushing as she looked down at her food. "Thanks for staying last night, Raph."

"My pleasure if you keep making me food." He smirked slightly.

"It's the least I could do," she muttered with a shrug.

"So what did I say anyway?" Raph asked.

"Huh?" she asked, glancing up as she ate a piece of bacon.

"You know, what did I say when I was talking in my sleep?" he pressed.

Alex started to smirk, but quickly hid it. She shrugged and said, "Oh, you know. Nothing special," she said. "You just professed your undying love for me and said you wanted me to bare your children. Nothing big."

Raph blushed slightly but scoffed, guessing her bluff. "Geez that's all. Phew good thing I didn't get too deep down into my subconscious, huh?"

"But to seriously answer your question, you _did_ tell me some things about Donatello that I didn't need to know," she told him. "Like how you can sometimes hear him all the way in the living room while he, uh, yeah.."

"O-okay!" Raph breath blinking, cheeks turning redder. "That should never leave this room. Don would kill me if he found out you knew..." he groaned, head going into his hand. "Did I say anything about him alway trying to stand close enough to Kerry to be able to smell her shampoo?"

"Uh, no, but I can honestly say that I could totally see Don being the type of guy to do that," she giggled.

"Shit, forget I said anything." Raph grumbled.

"Eh, it's just me," she told him, waving it off. "Don't worry about it."

"You are basically his sister, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want you to know."  
"Oh come on! It's not the worst thing I could find out," she told him. "Let me tell you, I've found out some pretty gross and disturbing things about my brothers the past couple years and, uh, I could have lived very happily not knowing."

"Stop right there! I don't need to know!" Raph said plugging his ears. "I already deal with Don and his little issue with Kerry!"

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to tell you," she said. "I was going to spare you the cringe attack. But everybody's got that one weird thing they do, right? You can't say there isn't something you'd do that you're kind of embarrassed about."

"Nothing I want to say out loud!"

Alex groaned. "Oh, come on! Just tell me! It's not like we haven't admitted embarrassing things to each other before."

"Yeah but as a group!" Raph grumbled. "My bros are way more embarrassing than me."

"Don't forget about you came over for dinner the first time," Alex reminded him. "We talked about embarrassing things then too."

"I wasn't in my right mind." He excused.

"Right mind?" Alex laughed. "Raph, we were just eating pie!"

"Fine!" Raph groaned. "I like sleeping in hammocks more than beds okay?"

"Hammocks?" Alex muttered, raising an eyebrow. Once she thought about it, in the way they were talking about Don, sleeping in a hammock would mean that if there were more than one person in it, Raph would have to sleep extremely close to them. It made sense once she looked at it that way. "Yeah, you're definitely a cuddler when you sleep."

"I don't cuddle!" Raph argued forgetting he told her of his past with his brothers and certain mattress forts.

"Yes you do!" Alex told him, calling his lie. "You told me about when you were little and last night just goes to prove my point even more. You barely let go of me!"

"B-because you were warm! So what?!" Raph looked away with red cheeks.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" she asked. "You know _I_ like cuddling. So what if you do? It just means you like to be close to people. You said that yourself."

"J-Just don't say it were other people can hear okay. I don't want to get any flak for being soft."

Alex laughed, leaning against Raph's side as she continued to eat. "Weren't you the one that said your street cred wasn't really important or something?""

"People who put their rep above their loved ones don't really have a rep," Raph corrected.

"So don't worry about it," she told him, bumping his shoulder with hers. "And I'm always open for some cuddling," she teased.

"Quiet you," he grumbled a bit, red in the face from embarrassment. "Thanks again for the food." He smiled slightly.

"Of course," she said. "I know how much you like my cooking."

"Now it's your turn to tell me something embarrassing." he said slowly.

"Uh," Alex muttered, trying to think of something to say.

"Come on, I fessed up and now you have too."

"No, I'm not trying to get out of it," she told him honestly. She had become extremely close to Raph. He knew a lot of embarrassing things about her, which made her more comfortable telling him things like this now. "I'm just trying to think of something."

"There has to be something," Raph probed.

"Oh, I've got one," she said. "I-"

Alex's bedroom door burst open and Elliot walked in. "Okay, enough alone time. Time to come into the living room to socialize."

Raph jumped a bit, but at least they weren't still cuddling in bed. "Hmmm, but I don't want to get infected with stupid." He joked with her brother.

"It's not nice to talk about Alex that way, Raph," Elliot said. "Though, you've been hanging out with her alone in here, so you've most likely already caught it."

"Dick," Alex muttered, getting off the bed with her plate in hand.

"Buttmunch," Ellie retorted.

"Such love in this family, I swear." Raph pretend to sigh happily.

"Shut up," the two O'Neil children told him simultaneously.

"Plus," Alex said, "You're basically part of the family so…"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Ellie finished for her.

"Why do I feel a sudden sense of dread." He snorted a bit.

"Oh, come on," Alex said, pulling Raph up off the bed. "Let's watch a movie or something."

"Don't let Zack pick," Ellie said. "He always picks Titanic."

"There is nothing wrong with Titanic," Alex said.

"But not every since time," Ellie complained. "I want to watch action!"

"Zack likes Titanic? Huh...Leo likes the Little Princess." Raph snorted.

"Really?" Alex asked. "That's not something I expected."

"He read the book and liked it so he fell in love with the movie or some crap," Raph grumbled. "He gets emotional at the end."

"Oh don't get me started on how much Alex is a sap when it comes to movies," Elliot exclaimed, plopping down on the couch. Alex sat down next to him, while Raph placed himself on the other side of Alex. The triplets were nowhere to be seen. Alex assumed they were all in their ro

"Babbler or out right crier?" Raph asked him.

"Crier," Ellie told him.

"Okay, so I get a little too into the movies, so what?" Alex whined, shrinking down into the couch.

"Okay so bring tissues on movie dates?" he joked, receiving a smack on the arm from Alex.

"I thought you two were fake dating," Ellie said, fishing for information.

"Doesn't mean we can't hang out." Raph shrugged. "We have fun together so why not?"

"But using the term date makes it seem more like your two are actually dating," Elliot said.

"So?" Alex said. She really didn't want to get into that. Ellie knew she liked him, bringing this up was just kind of like picking at a scab. "We're just kind of used to using dating terminology," she explained. "You know, from keeping up the whole gig."

"Okay," Ellie drew out.

The triplets walked in and immediately Zack asked, "Can we watch Titanic?"

"No!" everybody exclaimed.


	5. Shit Happens

Chapter 5

Shit Happens

"I'm going to die, Alex," Kerry said, head against her locker. "I'm going to die slowly and painfully." she bemoaned slumping farther down.

"And why are you going to die now, Kerry?" Alex sighed, seeing as far more of their conversation that Alex cared to admit started that way.

"It's not like you'd care." Kerry mumbled blandly, her outlook obviously dark about something.

"Oh, don't be like that," Alex sighed, closing her locker after getting everything she needed out of it. She stepped across the hall and leaned against the locker next to Kerry's. "What's going on?"

"Dr. Freemen is the problem," Kerry mumbled. Dr. Freemen was the teacher of the advance placement biology class her mother had put her in. She wasn't a scientist but her mother seemed to forget that! "She's going to kill me."

"Why is she going to kill you, Kerry?" Alex asked, turning on her phone's ringer back on. She always turned it off during school.

"She's implementing a critical criteria exam this year. A skills test that will be worth, oh I don't know, 60% of my average!" she hissed as she hit her locker and pain radiated up her knuckle. "It's bad enough I'm skimming by barely on a B!"

Alex could see her struggle. "You know, you could ask Don for some help on homework. Maybe some tutoring."

"Are you kidding? That's like asking Einstein to teach the quadratic formula to Scooby Doo," Kerry scoffed a bit. "Things will no doubt be lost in translation. Not to mention I don't want him to think I'm that stupid."

"Don knows how to dumb things down, I mean, he did it with Mikey," Alex said. "Just because Mikey doesn't learn that way, doesn't mean it wasn't good material. And he would never think you're stupid."

"Because he's never tutored me," Kerry grumbled. "Been trying really hard to hide my incompetence here."

"You're not incompetent," Alex reassured her, guiding Kerry out of the school. "Youre a very capable girl."

Kerry slumped against her, eyes closing as she allowed Alex to lead her. "Yeah, at drawing and punching things."

"You're logical too," Alex said. "You're strong willed and persistent, which is how you've gotten this far in the class on your own. Now you just need a little help. And Donatello's the fellow for the job."

"...You make a fair point,"Kerry grumbled. "And I guess I'll have to come along since you are supporting my weight and I don't want to walk anymore."

"You are such a pain in my ass," Alex muttered jokingly.

"But I'm a fabulous pain in your fine ass." Kerry joked right back without missing a beat.

"Shut up," Alex muttered.

* * *

"This was a bad idea!" Kerry whispered to her, her legs locking up in the hallway on the way to the normal gather spot for the boys.

"No, it's not. You're just being difficult," Alex insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling the copper skinned girl in.

"I will go limp! It's a defense mechanism!" Kerry hissed.

"Then I'll drag your ass on the floor," Alex told her. "Which will it be, dignity or embarrassment?"

"...I have no dignity but I can pretend I have some," Kerry mumbled and let her best friend pull her.

"Hey guys!" Alex called out. "I brought Kerry."

"Does that mean it's a no learning day?!" Mikey asked with hope as he looked between the girls. In his mind Alex + Kerry= Distracted Alex.

"Uh, not a chance, Mikey," Alex told him, slapping Kerry on the back. "Kerry's here for work too." The red haired girl turned and looked over to Don's work station. "Donatello," Alex sang, pulling Kerry behind her. "Kerry's got something to ask you!"

Kerry blushed and looked away. "I hate my best friend, how about you?" She grumbled a bit glaring at Alex.

"What?" Don asked, looking rather confused.

"She's being far more difficult than she has to be," Alex told him.

"I am not!" Kerry argued

"Yes, you are, Fruitcake," Alex told her, pushing her towards Don. "It's not a big deal, just ask."

"Ask me what?" Don pressed.

"Uh, umm," Kerry started. "Well feel free to say no if you don't want too," Kerry started out looking away. "But I kinda need a little...okay a lot of help in my advanced bio class."

"Oh, is that all?" Don ask with a relieved sigh. A blush then crept onto his face as he nodded. "Of course I'll help! I'd love to."

"R-Really, I mean. It's kind of a big job to take on, I promise you that." Kerry sighed. "It's creating our own blood slides and classifying different white blood cells in 30 minutes...I'm doomed." Kerry groaned.

"Oh, it's no problem!" Don told her, reaching under one of the tables to take out a microscope with two eyepieces. "It'll be fun! Like I have a lab assistant."

Kerry blushed darkly when he said that but rushed to hide her thoughts. "Thanks Donnie! You're saving me again, huh?" she laughed nervously.

"Of course, whenever you need it," he said with a thick blush, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh God, I'm going to be sick." Mikey groaned a bit looking away.

Alex turned to Mikey and followed him out of the lab. "That's not something we'd normally hear from you, Mike. Normally you love all that cute stuff. Something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah," he muttered, taking a seat on the couch. "Emily and I kind of broke up. Well, we were never really dating, but I don't know what else to really call it."

"Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry," Alex said. She sat down on the couch and placed a comforting hand on his knee. "If it makes you feel any better, I know it isn't you. Emily doesn't know what she wants. Ever."

"It's okay," he said with a slight strug. "She's nice and all, but I think I just liked the attention more than I really was into her, you know?"

"I understand," Alex told him.

"I told him he's a good guy any girl would like to date," Leo said. "Was that okay to say?" he murmured shyly to Alex.

"Yes," she whispered back. She then turned back to Mikey and said, "Leo's right, Mikey. You're sweet and funny. You're active and love to make people laugh. You're cute yet incredibly hot all wrapped it one!

"Face of an Angel!" Kerry yelled as she slipped on the lab coat Don gave her. "Mwah!" she said blowing him a kiss.

"Face of an Angel," Alex repeated, nudging him with her shoulder. "You're going to find a girl that's going to need to have you around to make her laugh and to make her feel like she's the only girl in the world."

Mikey blushes, a small smile on his pale freckled cheeks. "Thanks guys," he muttered, a small smile dancing on his lips.

"Anytime sweetie," Kerry smirked at him. "Wanna repay that compliment with some blood for my project?" she asked with a chuckle, motioning to a needle.

"Yes?" Mikey answered, getting off the couch.

"Don't sound so enthused. It's not a life time contract, I promise." She said putting an arm around him comfortingly, still worried he was still depressed.

"It's just a weird way of asking for a sample," he told her.

While Mikey was gone, Alex took out the materials she needed for tutoring. There wasn't that many. She was just going to be helping Mikey with his homework that afternoon.

Raph watched all this go down before planting himself down next to her, arm behind her on the couch. "You came in all smiley, what's up?" he asked a smirk in place.

"Nothing," she told him, leaning into his side. "Just a good day. Though not for Mikey, apparently."

"Just you wait," Raph smirked bigger. "He'll bounce back in no time, find a new girl to crush on."

"I just hope she feels the same way he does. He deserves someone that'll be as crazy for him as he will be for her," Alex told him. "But enough of that. How was your day?"

"It was good, I was finally able to change my bikes tire," Raph said thoughtfully trying to think of anything else of interest from a typical day. "Other than that it's been a slow day, a good day in my book."

"Me too," Alex told him. She glanced over her shoulder at the lab and whispered, "Looks like Operation Korny is going in the right direction."

Raph looked over as well as Kerry started working on blood slides as Mikey walked away rubbing his arm, grumbling about leeches or something. Don stood pretty close to her, under the pretense of watching her work. "Oh so that's why you started being all giggly, you sneak," he said pinching her side gently

"Ow, watch it," she muttered, swatting his hand. "Still kind of sore."

"Sorry,"he said kissing her temple on instinct. "God, Don's kind of a creep," he said lowly to her, smirking slightly, peeking at the two in the lab. Kerry blushed as Don leaned in close to her, explaining the dyes to her as his hand rested on her shoulder lightly.

"It's not creepy," Alex told him, taking out her own homework to work on while she waited for Mikey to come back over. "He just wants to be close to her. And to smell her...Okay, maybe part of it's a _little_ odd. But honestly, I'd probably do the same. I mean, you have that one cologne that smells _incredible_ ," she practically moaned.

"Okay, weirdo," he murmured softly though it was jokingly. "Thanks," he said but furrowed her brows. "Umm, is Kerry okay?" The girl was turning redder by the moment as Don always found a way to be touching her. She didn't mind, but he was getting awfully close to her back.

Alex giggled softly. "Yeah, Kerry's just got a sensitive back," Alex told him.

"Oh good god, Don's going to have a field day with that." Raph murmured.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, glancing up from her own homework.

"Don loves small touches like rubbing backs and kissing shoulders, it's kind of like a fetish for him or something, tracing a girls spine or something." Raph grumbled, thumbing through a magazine. Mikey sat down at Alex's feet, getting his own work out.

"And how the hell do you know this?" Alex asked, looking over Mikey's shoulder. She glanced at the work he already had done and pointed to question four. "Check that one over once more. See if you can figure out what's wrong with it before I help."

"Kay," Mikey said. "And we know because of how he looks at Kerry's back. We asked if he liked her butt and he said no. It was weird," he grumbled as he looked over the problem again.

"Why would you ask in the first place?" Alex pressed. "I mean, isn't that a little weird to know that about your brother?"

"Doesn't Kerry know about what you like on guys?" Raph scoffed at her.

 _More like what I like on you,_ she thought. "Yes, but she's not my brother," Alex pointed out. "I prefer not to know what my brothers prefer, you know what I mean?" She shivered just thinking about it. "Uh, _gross_."

"Well you're a girl with brothers, we're all guys, doesn't bother us too much. That doesn't mean we want details. Just the basics like that." Raph chuckled. "It's a bit different."

"Weirdos," Alex teased, just as he had done to her.

"Takes one to know one," Mikey shot back.

"Okay, I won't deny that," Alex chuckled.

Kerry gave a slight whimper as Don's hand gravitated back to the center of her spine after helping her adjust the microscope properly. Oh god this was distracting, what could she say? Hey can you not do that because it does things to me I don't want you to see? NO!

"Having any trouble with that sample?" he asked her.

"A-a-h a little bit," Kerry said, having to clear her throat. _Focas! You can do this._ "It's just, umm, is it normal for there to be very few eosinophils?

"Yes," he told her, leaning in closer to have a look. As he did so, he put more pressure on her back as he leaned in. "Basophils are the most common and the ones you'd see most of."

Kerry quickly slapped a hand over her mouth and looked away for a second, face red.

"D-Did she almost..." Raph blinked looking back at her.

"Oh my God, I think she almost did," Alex gasped, eyes wide as she watched.

"It's like watching a movie, or a soap opera," Mikey added. "Or porn."

Raph turned Mikey's head back to his paper and said, "Do your work."

"How can I when that's going on behind us!" he exclaimed, keeping his voice down for once in order to prevent the two in the lab from hearing.

"Ignore it." Raph murmured though he was watching out of the corner of his eye too. The hypocrite. At least he didn't have homework to do. "Operation Korny really is underway."

Kerry tried to get it under control, breathing through her nose a few times, making it look like she had stopped a sneeze. His hands was so much bigger than hers- _No focus you need this Kerry._ "Okay so how about these monocytes huh?" she laughed humorously. "They look exactly like basophils to me."

Don leaned in even more, his hand moving to her side, grasping it gently but firm as he looked at the sample to answer. Kerry bit her lips harshly another whimper breaking out. "The center is darker," he told her, his breath tickling her neck. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a little tense?"

"Ooh, ahh, umm nerves! Over this test, you know? It's got me stressing big time." Kerry mumbled. _Yeah it has nothing to do with that you're doing to me. God I'm a freak._

"You'll do fine," Don told her, squeezing her side slightly to reassure her. "I know it."

"Ahh-ahaha." Kerry forced a grin, covering up the noise as a laugh. "Just you wait, I'll make it harder for you."

"I can't believe she just said that!" Alex gasped. She turned to Raph, eyes asking him if she had just heard right.

"Oh god, this is turning into operation Horny." Raph grumbled a bit.

Alex gaped at Raph, a blush on her pale cheeks. "I can't believe _you_ just said that," she muttered.

"Well it's true! I mean obviously...just...just look at her!" Raph grumbled.

Kerry now had her eyes shut, realizing just how wrong what she said could be taken. Her breathing was becoming harder to control as Don's thumb rubbed circles on her rib cage. Okay, at least he isn't on the back now.

"You're doing most of it right," Don told her. "You have nothing to worry about."

 _I don't know by what miracle though,_ Kerry thought. _And good god he's good with his hands._

"Uhh what?" She asked, having lost her train of thought.

"You just needed a little nudge in the right direction," he added.

"Oh right, thanks Donnie, you're a good nudge I guess." Kerry laughed peeking in the microscope again. _Brain...we are going to have a very serious discussion about what you're telling my mouth to say when we get home._

"Anything else you want me to take a look at?" Don asked softly, his chest basically pressed flat against Kerry's back.

That did it. The straw that broke this poor unfortunate camel's back...oh the irony of this saying. Kerry let out a soft moan, barely able to slam her hands on the lab table to keep from falling to the side as her knees gave out for a brief moment, turned to jelly as her body gave a shiver.

"Oh my God, Kerry! Are you okay?" Don asked frantically, grabbing her sides to right her. Or try to, at least.

"Ahh, ooh, uh. I-I ahah yeah. I'm f-fine Donnie," Kerry stuttered. _Kill me...Right here, right now. Let me die!_ Or at least make Donatello stop breathing, his chest is still against her back! Oh God! Her hands landed on his, trying not to show how...out of sorts she was.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's not normal to just almost collapse like that,"

"I-I umm. Ye-eah." Kerry tried to calm down, almost falling again this time back against him. "I-I just up. I-ignore me!" he said looking out for Alex for her to come save her. To which Alex refused, trying to get them closer.

"Impossible," he told her. "Do you need to sit down? How much have you had to drink today? Are you hydrated?

"I promise, I'm fi-ine." Kerry said, drawing out the last word to hold back another moan. "I've drank plenty, I promise."

Don's expression was pained and worried. He needed to figure out what was wrong and he didn't understand what was wrong? Was she okay? Was she sick? Was she hurt? "Kerry," he tried again. "We could take a break," he suggested. "We've got all night to do this."

"Yes!" Kerry said quickly, but then her face turned a dark red at the next sentence he said. "A-All night. I-I umm oh. Uh."

"This is weird," Mikey muttered.

"But hilarious," Raph said covering his mouth to keep from laughing.

"It's so awkward and cute at the same time," Alex said. "I don't know if I should cringe or to gush."

"Uh, both?" Mikey asked tilting his head. "Alex are you going to go help her?"

"Nope," she answered. "This is going swimmingly," she told him. "The plan is actually starting to get somewhere."

"Alex," Mikey murmured. "You scare me sometimes with how cunning you are."

Alex gently ruffled his hair before smoothing it back into place. "Don't worry about it, Honey," she told him softly. "When your time comes, you'll appreciate it."

"Stay out of my love life." Mikey glared a bit. "I might go insane."

"Aw, he doesn't trust me, Pumpkin," Alex pretended to pout to Raph.

"He's right too, Firecracker." Raph snorted. "My little puppet master."

"Hey, I'm not controlling them," Alex protested. "I'm just providing service or withholding it when necessary."

Raph gave a knowing look. "Whatever you say," he said giving a strand of hair a playful and gently tug.

Alex squeaked and jumped slightly at the tug. "Raph," she complained, her face slightly red. "Don't."

"I'm evening it up for poor Kerry," he joked as he went back to reading his magazine.

Alex rolled her eyes and reached up, grabbing a fist full of his hair and giving it a small tug. She smirked, seeing his bright red face.

"Hey hey hey no! I was gentle!" Raph groaned. "Butch."

Alex leaned up and whispered deeply into his ear, "Whatever you say, Loverboy." She shifted so that her legs were laying across his lap, her back leaning against the arm rest with the pillow behind her. She had a better view of Mikey's work that way.

Kerry's brain was no longer focused on her work but on the boy basically hugging her from behind, who was now going to get them something to eat and drink. He still wasn't convinced that she was properly hydrated. "I-I can't take much more." She muttered to herself. "I'm going to lose it, it doesn't help that he's so freaking sweet and adorable about all this. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts," she scolded herself, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand.

Don walked back in with popcorn and some water. "Here we go," he muttered.

"Thanks Donnie, you always got my back, worry wart," she chuckled, composing her self again, taking a piece of popcorn and popping it into her mouth.

"If I don't, who will?" he asked, a small blush on his face. He quickly added more in order to prevent himself from further embarrassment. "Well, besides Alex, of course."

"I don't know, _Alex might abandon me!"_ Kerry yelled pointedly across the room.

"Fruitcake!" Alex yelled from her spot.

"Not talking to you," Kerry yelled back and took a drink. "Thanks again for your help Don. My mom would kill me if I did any worse in this class."

"Hey, I'm happy to help whenever you need it. Even if it's three in the morning. Just give me a call," he told her. "I mean, I've probably helped everybody with something at some point. Mikey with science, Leo with economics, Raph in federal government and Alex in math."

"You want me calling you at three in the morning? For biology and math questions?" Kerry teased with a raised eyebrow.

"If it's what you need, yeah," he said with a blush and a shrug. "I want you to know I'll always be here to help you. No matter what it is."

Kerry looked at him, eyes going dark for a brief second. Anything? Even in the wee hours of the morning when she couldn't sleep and reached for a small white box that she had swore she had thrown away? She shook her head banishing the thought. "Thanks once more Don," she mumbled, hand coming up to touch his cheek gently. "It means a lot."

Don took her hand, keeping it against his cheek for a moment longer as he leaned into it. "Well, you mean a lot to me," he told her.

Kerry smiled and kissed his other cheek briefly. "Same...for me I mean. Y-you mean a-a lot to me as well."

"S-So, uh, back to work?" he asked, turning back to the table completely red.

"Y-Yeah, I got to ensure I pass!" Kerry said nodding seriously.

"Oh my God that is the cutest thing I have _ever_ seen," Alex gushed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

"Firecracker, don't let your head explode." Raph scoffed patting her head gently.

"Oh, come on," Alex sighed. "You have to admit that was so touching!"

"You mean Donnie was touchy," Raph snickered a bit.

Alex leaned forward and took Raph's face in one hand, pinching his cheeks slightly. "Mind out of the gutter, Loverboy." She kissed his cheek before leaning back into her spot.

"Get your mind in the gutter, Babe." Raph smirked at her. Mikey smirked a bit, maybe getting Don and Kerry together was helping Operation Ralex get together. He was an amazing double agent.

Alex smirked, knowing very well that Raph wasn't really being serious. However, just to mess with him, Alex shifted and sat on his lap, straddling his waist, facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her chest up against his. She nudged her nose with her own. "Mmm, wouldn't you like that, Loverboy," she muttered deeply, her face almost as red as her hair.

Raph blushed, gulping a bit as she looked at him. His hands went to her hips, holding her in place. His thumbs gently rubbed circles through the fabric of her shirt. "Y-yeah, I would," he said hauntingly, not willing to lose to her.

Alex held back a gulp. He wanted her to? Honestly? She didn't expect that and had no idea what she should do now! Oh, she didn't think this through all the way. _Stupid, stupid_ , she scolded herself. _Do I move away, or do I kiss him? The hell do I do?_

"Please don't," Mikey begged.

Alex blinked and blushed even more, having completely forgotten that Mikey was there. She moved off of Raph, missing the warmth of his body and sat back into her spot, her legs resting on his lap. "Sorry, Mikey," she told him.

"It's fine. It's just, Don and Kerry are okay cause they aren't, you know...that forward." Mikey said finishing up his work and handing it to Alex to check.

"You know we've never actually done anything, right?" she muttered, looking over his answers. She scanned, doing the math of the problems in her head. She smirked, handing it back to him. "Aced it, Mikey," she told him, ruffling his hair.

"Booya!" Mikey yelled jumping up and hugging Alex and even Raph. "And yeah but still."

"Sorry," she told him again. "Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's cool, bro," Mikey said hitting her knee gently as he sat down to pull out his game controller. "Anybody else want to play?"

"Hell yeah!" Alex exclaimed. "I'm always up for some Call of Duty Ghosts."

"Well we can't let Mikey have all the fun." Raph chuckled as well and got up to get them both controllers.

Kerry smiled as she leaned away from the microscope once more, rubbing her eyes. "Alright, I think I calculated them alright. As long as I counted correctly our results should be the same."

Don moved in, not touching her this time. "Uh, you're off a little on basophils, but we got the same number of esophiles," he told her. "See here?" He told her, moving so she could see. "I found a mono and a baso here."

"Dang it." Kerry groaned a bit and came over and looked in the other side. "S-s-so mono has one big nucleus, thus it's called a mono. Basophils have pinched off ones?" Kerry asked shily, as if scared she sounded stupid and he'd say so.

"See, you've got it!" Don exclaimed, a large smile spreading across his face.

"I-I did?" Kerry mumbled looking at him in shock.

"Yeah," he answered. "You've got more of this retained than you thought. You just needed a little more practice."

"D-Donnie," she said in shock. "I-I'm actually going to pass this exam." She blinked, feeling like crying all of a sudden.

"I told you," he said. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're smart, one of the smartest girls I've ever met."

"You just don't say that to make me feel better, do you?" Kerry mumbled softly.

"Of course not," he told her. "Honestly, Kerry. You're really smart. You're smart and kind and beautiful and strong and creative," Don started to ramble.

Kerry turned to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hugging him hard. "You're the best guy in the world, Donnie. Love you," she mumbled, not being confident enough to say it seriously as she dreamed about.

Don froze mid hug, a deep blush on his cheeks. It took him several moment to regain himself enough to say, "Love you too, Kerry."

Kerry blushed but couldn't help but smile against his shoulders. "...good." she mumbled.

" _Die_!" Alex yelled, madly pressing buttons on the controler. "Take that you son of a b-"

"Woah, rage much?" Raph chuckled.

"Weird hearing you say that, Raph," Mikey shot back, earning a hit on his head.

"Hey, he shot my Mikey," Alex muttered. "Nobody shoots my Mikey. _Nobody_."

"Aww, Alex, I love you too." Mikey cooed a bit. "B-but I got it, Alex. Really, I can handle it."

Alex just glared at the screen, shooting at the enemy. "Whatever you say, Mikey. Doesn't mean I'm not going to stop shooting the balls off of those dicks."

"I thought Kerry was bad!" Mikey whined a bit scared of Alex now.

"That's my girl!" Raph laughed as he helped her fend off the offending side.

Alex laughed when Raph got the last guy. "Nice head shot," she complimented, kissing him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Babe." Raph smirked, "Oh you got that guy right as he spawned!"

"Well, you know me," Alex said. "Always there to protect my boys."

"You're the best." he said grinning at her. "Love you!" he laughed hitting her shoulder.

"I love you too, Raph," she replied as if it came perfectly naturally to her, and as if she had been doing it for years. She froze slightly when she realized she had done so, causing her to get shot several times, killing her character on screen. The last time, that she could recall saying that to Raph while he was conscious (since she has done so when he spent the night with her and he was asleep) was on New Years when she had accidentally gotten drunk and made a complete fool out of herself. She had revealed things to Raph and she had hoped to keep with herself.

"Oh man! Don't worry, we're get them back for you." Raph grinned as if nothing had changed. "Posers are going to pay!"

Alex sat there stiffly. _Maybe it doesn't mean the same thing when he says it,_ she thought. _Maybe he just means like a best friend._ Alex glanced back into the lab at Kerry and Don. _Both of them meant it when they said it. But maybe Raph didn't. Maybe there really wasn't any hope in thinking there was a chance for us to be together._

"Alex?" Raph paused his character. "You okay?" he asked in worry looking over at her.

"Hm?" she hummed. "Oh, uh, yeah. Fine."

"For real?" Raph sighed looking at her. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she told him with a shrug. "Just, uh, getting tired, is all. Kind of not looking forward to going to bed." She knew he'd get that she was still getting nightmares. On good nights she'd be able to get in about three hours of sleep before waking up.

"Oh, well I'm still cool with you calling me if you have problems sleeping, Alex," Raph promised.

For Alex, the problem wasn't falling asleep to begin with. It was waking up and then not being able to. Truthfully, she hadn't felt rested at all in the past several weeks. The best sleep she had gotten was when Raph had spent the night. Sure, she still had a nightmare, but she slept longer and felt much more rested, safer even, just having him right next to her.

And she couldn't possibly ask him to stay the night again. It had been a one time deal. Elliot would flip if she even thought about it, let alone proposed the idea to any of them. And she most certainly couldn't just invite herself to stay the night there with them. It would be rude and inconsiderate.

"Right," Alex muttered, sliding down in her seat slightly. It seemed as if she was trying to let the couch eat her whole so nobody would see her. Raph especially.

"I mean it," Raph said bumping her leg with his. "No matter the time, I want you on that phone."

Alex just nodded her head. She knew that she'd like to talk to Raph, but it wouldn't help. Once she was up from a nightmare, she was never able to go back to sleep, which was her main cause of fatigue. It was trying to still get rest _with_ the nightmares that was the problem. And so far, she had only figured out one way of doing that.

Raph sighed suddenly before setting his controller down and taking her hand, pulling her up from the couch and tugging her towards the door. "Don, Kerry, why don't you have a turn?"

"Okay," Don said, heading toward the couch with Kerry. He gave the two redheads an odd look but ignored them for the most part. Whatever was going on was their business.

"Be prepared to kiss my ass boys." Kerry smirked picking up Alex's controler. "I'll avenge you Lexi!" she called.

"Raph?" Alex asked in shock as he dragged her out. "What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"We need to talk," Raph told her leading her to his room so no one would hear.

"About what?" she asked. She followed him into his room. She huffed and sat down on the bed as he shut the door. "You already told me to call when I need to. I know that already. What else is there to talk about?"

"That's not going to help, is it?" Raph mumbled standing in front of her, arms crossed.

Alex sighed. Of course Raph would know what's up with her. He almost always did. And sometimes it was a right pain in her ass. "No, it won't," she admitted. "Not much we can do about that. I just have to get used to it."

"You slept fine when I stayed over," Raph murmured softly. "Was that the last night of sleep you got?"

"Pretty much," she told him. "I can get in an hour or two a night. That's about it."

"...stay here,"Raph said simply with a shrug, as if it was no big deal. Like he was commenting on the weather.

Alex blinked, believing that she heard him wrong."I'm sorry, what?" Alex muttered.

"Stay here a few nights. I mean you can't afford to be tired. If you want we can even make it a big thing, camp out with the guys in the living room. Cushion forts and all that jazz. I might even consider inviting the hick if she promises not the bug me."

Alex blinked once more, a small blush creeping onto he pale cheeks. "I couldn't intrude like that," she muttered. "I mean, even one night is a big deal."

"Dad loves you." Raph scoffed. "He'd love it if you stayed, it's keep us out of trouble."

 _Keep you out of trouble? I think you and I could get into some trouble, that's for sure._ Alex wanted to roll her eyes and smack herself for her thoughts. "Yeah, but-" She cut herself off, seeing the stern look on Raph's face. Another sigh escaped her lips. "I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

"Nope," Raph said heading to the door. "I'll go tell Dad, you go tell the others."

Alex got up off the bed and grabbed his arm, stopping him before he got to open the door. "Raph?"

"Yeah?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Thanks," she muttered, feeling embarrassed that he went out of his way just to make sure she was okay. "I...You…"

"Hey, I told you, I'm going to always be there and care for you in the way you deserve." Raph said seriously. "I don't lie."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Alex stood up on her tiptoes and gently placed a lingering kiss on his lips. Her eyes were closed, left hand resting on his neck while the other was still on his arm. Raph breathed through his nose slowly, relaxing into the familiar action, kissing her back.

Raph pulled back, and Alex almost whined at the loss of contact. "Alright," Raph chuckled at her a bit.

"What?" she asked him. She didn't know what he found so amusing.

"You always do that when you can't find words to say." Raph teased.

Alex rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you complaining?"

"Obviously not." He smirked and left out the door.

"Well then, if you're not complaining," Alex muttered, grabbing the back of his shirt to stop him. She walked around him so that they were facing and pulled him down by the front of his shirt to kiss him again.

"Ga-" Raph called before being pulled down into a kiss, protest lost in the open air as he kissed back.

Alex wrapped her arms around Raph's next, holding him in place so he couldn't pull back again. Her lips moved against his, almost as if they were dancing. Raph's hands went to her hips, rubbing circles through the fabric. He backed her up in the wall, pinning her there as he moved from her lips to her ear.

Raph nibbled at her earlobe. Alex's knees started to go weak. If Raph hadn't pinned her there, she would have fallen to the floor. A soft moan escaped her throat, causing Raph to smirk against her skin.

"So this was what you two went off to do…." Mikey muttered.

Alex jumped, bumping her head against Raph's. "Ow…" she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"... _Michelangelo."_ Raph growled, turning to his brother with a dark look.

Mikey chuckled and turned back around to yell towards the other room. "I found them!" he yelled. "They were making out!"

"You get some!" Kerry yelled back out, head popping out into the all. "Get you some girl!" she grinned mischievously at Alex. Payback is such a bitch and Kerry's an even bigger one.

Alex shrank back, hiding behind Raph slightly. Her hands gripped his hair tightly. Her head went to rest against his back, hoping that nobody could see just how red it was.

"I'm going to kick both of your asses!" Raph yelled at them, fist clenching rightly. Mikey blinked at him and started backing up.

"Bring it you son of a-" Kerry yelled but Mikey slapped a head over her mouth.

"Sleep over?" Alex whispered up to Raph, reminding him that they were supposed to tell them.

"I'm for it if Kerry and Mikey sleep outside!" Raph glared.

"If you let them sleep inside I'll let you put up a hammock in your room," Alex tried to persuade. "I'll stay with you there."

"...Fine." Raph hissed. "I have to talk to Dad, you tell the guys?"

Alex groaned. "Fine."


	6. Sleepover Antics

Chapter 6

Sleepover Antics

"Emily would kill me for not bringing her present," Alex giggled, referring to the lingerie she had gotten her. "I mean, even if we're not really staying the night for _that_ , she'd kill me."

"I don't even know where I put mine," Kerry scoffed as she turned on her blinker at the stoplight. "I was in such a hurry to get it out of my sight."

"I tried mine on a couple weeks ago," Alex admitted, watching a family walk across the street as they waited for the light to change. "It fit perfectly which is really weird if you think about it. How the hell did she know my size?"

"She's pervertly psychic." Kerry grumbled, head resting against her hand, elbow resting on her door as she waited for the light to change.

"Well, it looked nice, I guess," Alex said. "I mean, I like it. Whether or not someone else would? Beats me."

"I am never, ever going to wear mine! Too much skin!" Kerry swore as she looked both ways and started turning as the light turned green and no cars approached. "I don't like seeing that much of my skin, why would anyone else." she scoffed.

"I don't know, I think Don wouldn't mind," Alex teased.

"Well, I would. I wouldn't want him seeing that much either." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh come one! I mean, if you two start dating and progress to that stage of the relationship, he'd be seeing a lot more than just a little bit of exposed skin," Alex said.

"Lights will be off." Kerry grumbled a bit as she picked up speed as they headed to a less crowded part of the city were the boys lived.

"Doesn't mean you can't still see skin," Alex went on.

"Blindfolds. He'd go for it." Kerry tried to joke with her.

"I think he's rather see you," Alex protested. "I mean, he always looks people in the eyes. Don't you think he'd want to then?"

"So you and Raph ran off to make out?" Kerry changed to subject with no shame at all.

"No, he pulled me out of the room to get to the bottom of my not sleeping," Alex corrected.

"And came up with the plan of a slumber party?" Kerry scoffed. "Doesn't seem like the type."

"Honestly?" Alex sighed. "The only time I've felt rested with the nightmares was when Raph stayed the night of my parents funeral. We're just trying to see if this'll help, like it did then."

"And if it does?" Kerry asked with a raised eyebrow. "You going to move in with them? Or them with you?"

"No," Alex scoffed. "It's just too help me get some rest. I mean, I can't remember the last time I've gotten more than three hours of sleep."

"...you could have come to my place." Kerry mumbled.

"I don't think it'd help," Alex sid. "I mean, I stayed at your place two weeks ago. Why do you think I was up making breakfast?"

"You love me?" Kerry scoffed. "And wish to keep my belly happy?"

"Puh-lease," Alex chuckled. "I think you've put on a couple pounds the last couple weeks."

"N-No, I haven't!" Kerry gaped at her. If anything she was losing weight! "I am the perfect size!"

"I'm just teasing, Kerry," Alex said as they pulled up to the Hamato's. Alex got out of the car after Kerry parked, swinging her backpack over her shoulders.

Kerry was grumbling still as she locked the car, her guitar case and overnight back pulled up over her head to rest across her body. "You better be."

"If anything, you need to eat more," Alex told her as they entered the house. "How much weight have you lost lately? I mean, you really don't need to lose any."

"I don't know, I don't pay attention really. I eat when I'm hungry." Kerry rolled her eyes. "And like you should talk."

Alex had no idea how much weight she had lost over the past month or so. She just wasn't hungry most of the time. It could also have something to do with the fact that she often got sick because of her nightmares. She wasn't going to say that to anybody though.

"They're back!" Mikey yelled when the two girls walked into the common area.

"You don't need to yell, Michelangelo," Leo scolded him. "We're all right here."

"We can see them, dumbass." Raph slapped his head harshly, still mad about earlier obviously.

"Easy," Alex told him. She leaned over the back of the couch after dumping her bag on the floor, her arms wrapping around Raph from behind. One of her hands gently gubbed his chest, trying to relax him. "Let it go," she instructed him.

Kerry stayed standing, holding her stuff as the two hotheads glared at eachother. Kerry was not going near him if he was going to hit her. Though with ALex wrapped around him, the chances of it happening were much slimmer. It was a good stand off before Kerry got bored and so just sat down in a chair.

"Hick," Raph greeted.

"Dick," Kerry shot back.

"Raph," Alex warmed softly in his ear. "Be nice."

"Why?" Raph said. "She's not nice." he grumbled.

Alex rolled her eyes. She let her hair fall over his shoulder and slightly hiding her face to prevent the others from seeing what shew as doing. Alex bit his ear beforesucking on it gently. "Doesn't mean you can't try and be the better person," she whispered. "And if you don't want to for that reason, I can give you a little incentive."

"W-What kind of incentive?" Raph mumbled slowly, cheeks turning red as she murmured to him.

"Mm, I'm sure we could think of something," she teased before standing up to side down next to him instead.

"Fine. I won't hit her, tonight that is." He sighed a bit looking at her with red cheeks.

Alex placed her hand on his leg and gave it a gently squeeze. "That's my Pumpkin," she told him with a chuckle. "So, what do we have planned to do?"

"M-Movie night, video games, the works." Raph stuttered looking ahead, trying to ignore her hand.

"Sounds nice," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "And Master Splinter was really okay with this?"

"Yeah, as long as we uh...hmm behave as he put it." Raph mumbled awkwardly.

"Well that's no fun," Alex joked.

"Alex please don't, not in front of everyone else." Raph groaned a bit. "I don't need a shower."

"What movie do you want to watch?" Leo asked everybody in general as he stood in front of the DVD bookcase.

"I brought the Corpse Bride!" Kerry chimed in. "The masterpiece of Tim Burton!"

"Will you marry me?" Mikey asked.

"What?" Don gasped.

"Huh?" Kerry blinked a bit at Mikey. "Marry you? Why?"

"Because you have the best taste in movies," Mikey said. "You get me."

"Don't be ridiculous, Mikey," Don mumbled. "You can't just marry someone because you have the same taste in movies."

"But wouldn't that mean we have a lot in common and thus get along well enough to be married?" Kerry asked in thought. Of course she wouldn't really marry Mikey but he had a point.

"I'm not getting into this," Don muttered. "I'll just say that you have to have a connection, right?"

"A connection?" Kerry blinked, not understanding completely. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"No, that's interests," Don said. ""Connection as in romantic feelings. Love," he emphasized with a blush.

"How did we get into this conversation?' Alex whispered to Raph as she watched. She shifted so that she was laying on his lap with a pillow. She pulled the blanket that was hanging over the back of the couch over herself, as well as maneuvering it around so that Raph was covered too.

"Donnie, got jealous." Raph snickered back to her.

"O-Oh, yeah, makes sense, Don." Kerry said quickly looking away. "S-So movie, popcorn, I'll go make some," she said rushing to get out of there. Code red code red, the L word is in use!

"He gets jealous extremely easily," Alex muttered.

"He's not exactly the most confident guy, Alex," Raph sighed. "He really does fear she might find someone else and like him better, even friend wise."

"Impossible," Alex muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. "Kerry really likes him. Might even love him." Her eyes shot open, a hand going to her mouth and she shot up. "You didn't just hear that from me!"

"Well, Donnie does love Kerry." He replied with a scoff. "There, even. And She hasn't said anything so he doesn't know that."

"I don't think she even knows it herself," Alex told him, laying back down.

"I think she does, but she doesn't want to admit it." Raph shrugged as the girl came back in with multiple bowls of popcorn.

"I love you Kerry!" Alex yelled as she flipped onto her back to hold the whole on her stomach, her head still on Raph's lap. "She makes me food. I love anybody who makes me food."

"You called me fat earlier," Kerry pointed out with a pout as she handed a second bowl to Leo to share with Mikey before sitting on the loveseat, leaving enough room for Don to sit next to her to share her popcorn. "And now you love me?"

"I love you and all of your fat, Kerry," Alex told her, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth with a giggle.

Kerry made a gasping noise, putting her hand over her heart. "I can't believe you!"

"Oh hush, you know I'm only joking," Alex told her.

"Well, your jokes pierce me," Kerry said dramatically. "My heart is in a million pieces now." She seemed to sniff.

"That's okay, Don can fix it," Alex giggled, repeating her action. "Don's basically already a doctor." .

"It's emotional distress, not physical. I'm going to die of a broken heart." Kerry seeming to cry falling back on the couch. "Mikey you get my comic books."

"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Don can still fix that," Alex muttered.

"N-no, he can't." Kerry stuttered. "Leo, you get my apartment."

"Don, you could help her fix that, couldn't you?" the female redhead asked.

"I could try," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wouldn't want you to be in pain, emotional or physical."

"Alex!" Kerry swore at her. "Joking! Donnie, I was joking, being over dramatic." she said sitting up ramrod straight now. Alex took another piece and held it up to Raph's mouth to give him some. Raph held open his mouth willingly, liking that she was feeding him

"Oh relax would you?" Alex told her. "Take a deep breathe, eat some popcorn and relax. We're supposed to be having fun."

"I don't know, you keep wounding me!" Kerry glared. "So much pain!"

"You're mean."Raph smirked, taking the popcorn in his mouth.

"I'm not mean," Alex muttered, holding up some more for him. "This is weird. Why am I feeding you?" she giggled.

"Nooooo," Raph pretend to whine. "I'm to lazy to feed my self." he joked.

Alex narrowed her eyes and gave him some more. "You're lucky you're cute and that I like you, you lazy bum," she muttered.

"I am," he laughed. "Okay so movies. Corpse Bride, or Fast Five?"

"Whatever's good with me," Alex said.

"I haven't seen Corpse Bride," Leo said getting up and going over to Kerry to get the movie. "Let's try that," he said and looked for permission to dig in her bag for the movie, which he got.

"I haven't seen this movie in years," Alex admitted.

"It's always the best." Kerry smirked as she finally relaxed across her seat legs across Don's lap.

"Is it your favorite movie?" Mikey asked.

"Hmm, one of them. I like a lot of movies and it depends on my mood. Life is Beautiful is another one, but...so many feels." Kerry sniffed slightly, completely serious this time. "I watch that one and this one when I'm a bit down in the dumps."

"What's your favorite movie, Mikey?" Alex asked.

"The Dark Knight!" Mikey grinned at her. "O-Oh or the Avengers!"

"Good picks," Alex said. "Those movies rock."

"What about you, Alex?" Leo asked as he came back with the remote, movie in the player.

"Hm, I think Secondhand Lions, or maybe Pay It Forward,, and Spirited Away," she answered. "And I already know your favorite movie is The Little Princess."

"W-What? How do you know that?" Leo gasped, his cheeks red. "Who told her!?"

"Don't worry about it," Alex told him. "Don? What's your favorite movie?"

"Uh, The Theory of Everything," he answered, feeling embarrassed that a movie based on one of his favorite scientists was his favorite.

"Oh I love that!" Kerry said. "It was so interesting and not to mention romantic."

"And sad," Alex added. "But a really good movie." She glanced up at Raph and asked, "What's your favorite movie, Loverboy?"

"I like the Jurassic Park movies. The first one specifically." Raph answered. "It was good thriller."

"It was," Alex agreed, giving him some more popcorn.

Leo pressed play on the movie as the title screen came up. "Alright before we get into it. Any bathroom breaks or snack runs? I don't want to pause it every 10 minutes." He grumbled.

"Most of us have seen it so I don't think we need to pause it unless the people who haven't need to go," Alex thought. "And I'm too comfortable to even think about moving."

"I'm good." Mikey promised, though everyone knew he'd be getting up in 15 minutes, tops.

"Good to go here." Kerry said. "Donnie?" she asked looking at the boy holding her legs in his lap.

"I'm fine, thanks," he told her, patting her leg before putting them back at his sides.

"Alright then." Leo said unpausing it and letting the first scene play on the screen. "Is this animated?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Claymation?" Alex thought out loud.

"YES!" Kerry groaned. "He is one of the last, and best, claymation movie makers." She sighed dreamily. "It's gorgeous!"

"Claymation kind of creeps me out," Alex muttered.

"B-But look at it. It's so three dimensional, way different than 2-D animation and the odd glitchy-ness of CGI," Kerry pointed out earning a high five from Mikey.

"I don't know, it just does," Alex said. "Plus, I like 2-D animation."

"I'm not saying 2-D is bad, I draw 2-D after all, but this is something different."

"I don't know why it bothers me," Alex admitted. "I think they remind me of puppets and puppets kind of give me the creeps too."

"Oh right, your thing with clowns." Kerry teased her.

Alex placed the bowl of popcorn on the table. "Shut up," ALex muttered, turning over so that her head was facing Raph's stomach.

"That feels weird." Raph mumbled playing with her hair gently.

"What?" Alex asked, glancing up at the Raph. Her head tilted into his touch, her eyes closing slightly as she enjoyed the feeling of him playing with her hair.

"Your breathing on my stomach." he scoffed.

"Bad weird or okay weird?" she sighed, closing her eyes. He was making her sleepy,

"Uh, okay weird. I don't mind it but it's weird." Raph rolled his eyes.

"I can move if you'd like," she muttered, grabbing his hand from her hair and holding onto it.

"You're fine." Raph shrugged a bit as he looked back to the movie.

* * *

Despite having the nightmare, Alex barely moved. However, her breathing had increased slightly as her heart rate increased and a cold sweat started to coat her skin. When she finally woke up from the nightmare, her body jerked slightly, much like when people had dreams of falling into darkness and jumped awake.

"Alex?" Raph murmured quietly, easily hidden by the sounds of the racing movie on tv. "Are you okay?"

Alex just rubbed her eyes and sat up, swinging her legs off the couch to stand up. Her stomach was churning and bile was building up in her mouth. She had woken up many times the same way in the past month and she knew exactly what was coming. She needed to get to the bathroom.

The long haired redhead stood up and slowly made her way towards the door without a single word to anybody, despite the fact that Raph had addressed her directly. She knew that if she even tried to open her mouth, she would either groan, gag or be sick right then and there. And she wasn't going to ruin everybody else's night by doing that.

Once she was in the bathroom, she shut the door behind her and sat at the door of the toilet, emptying the content of her stomach inside. Tears welled up in her eyes from the stinging in her nose. She groaned, hunching over and rubbing the tears from her eyes.

Raph was at the door in an instant, her backpack in his hands, leaning against the frame for a moment before making his way over to her side. He knelt down and pulled her long red tresses back from her face so she wouldn't have to worry about that. Another hand rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her down gently.

"You don't have to be in here," she told him, glancing up at Raph before reaching out to flush the toilet. "You can go back to the movie if you want. I'll be fine in a minute."

"Yeah, like I'm going to sit out there while you toss your cookies," he scoffed a bit. "I'm here, so deal with it."

"Thanks," she muttered. She took in a deep breath before standing up and making her way to the sink. She pulled out her toothbrush from her bag that Raph brought in for her and brushed her teeth. "Happens about two times a week," she told him. "Used to happen almost every night."

"Alex, have you thought about, I don't know," Raph sighed. "Getting therapy? Or at least talking to someone with experience in this kind of thing. Like that Esme lady."

"Don't want it," she muttered with her toothbrush in her mouth. "It's getting better," she said, as if trying to convince herself more than him.

"Yeah cause this is fucking healthy." Raph grumbled a bit, running a hand through his hair.

Alex spit and rinsed before putting her toothbrush away. A soft, tired sigh escaped her lips. "I'm not going to do this right now, Raph. Please?"

"Yeah but when are you going to do it, Alex?" Raph said hands going into the air. "When you're so tired you step out in front of a car while trying to cross the street?"

"Can we deal with this _after_ I get some sleep tonight?" she begged. "I mean, how long was I asleep for, two hours? And I mean, that's the _best_ sleep I've gotten since you stayed the night. Can't we just let me rest tonight and deal with it tomorrow when I'm feeling _better_?"

Raph was quiet for a moment before he breathed deeply, "Fine, but we _will_ talk about it." he told her.

"Promise," she told him, holding up her hand with her pinky sticking out, an innocent smirk on her lips.

"Freaking hell," Raph grumbled but wrapped his pinky around hers.

"Oh, you think it's cute," she giggled, wrapping an arm around his back.

"Whatever, you dork." Raph chuckled arm around her shoulders as she walked with him, back into the hallway.

"Being a dork keeps things funny and interesting, you have to admit," she told him, bumping him with her hip.

"I suppose so. Now come on," Raph smirked at her. "Were going to play some video games now that you're up."

"You could have played them before, you know," she said. "You didn't have to wait."

"You know how Kerry and Mikey get, we all agreed we wanted you to sleep." Raph said with a shrug. "You needed it."

"Thanks," she told him. "Really, I needed tonight. And by just that little nap, I can tell I'm going to get a lot of rest tonight. And," Alex cleared her throat, running a hand through her hair, "it's because of you."

Raph smirked a bit, pulling her close and planting a soft and quick kiss to her lips. "Anytime." he smirked.

"Hey, where'd you two run off to?" Mikey asked as the two walked back in.

"Oh you know, it's just the morning sickness," Alex joked, making it completely obvious she was lying by the look on her face.

"How's my godchild doing?" Kerry asked. "Gabriel needs a playmate." she snickered.

"The freakin' kids giving me hell!" Alex laughed, plopping down on the couch, her legs pulled under her. "There'll be a hellraiser for sure!" Alex turned to Raph, who had sat down next to her. "I blame you. They're obviously taking after you."

"Hey, hey hey, he's getting good genes." Raph played along.

"Dude, he or she better not corrupt my perfect angel." Kerry snickered.

"Angel? Pff, if they're anything like you _we_ should be the worried ones," Alex joked.

"Not if they have some of Donnie in there, That should temper them." Raph shot out there.

"Yeah, but it doesn't have Don's genes, it has Elliot's," Alex reminded her.

"Oh shit." Leo joked. "We're doomed. Good luck with that guys, Don I feel sorry for you."

"But Don can talk anybody down," Mikey said. "He's be able to trick the kid into being good, right?"

"That's a good point, Mike," Alex thought.

"Can he talk Kerry into being good?" Raph asked.

"Obviously," Alex said.

"Really?" Don muttered, wonder if he had ever actually done that. If he had he did it without realizing it.

"You are a genius, Donnie." Kerry laughed, "You could probably talk me into anything, without blinking." Kerry said rolling her eyes.

" _Anything_?" Alex and Mikey both giggled out at the same time.

Kerry blushed darkly and looked down. "W-Well, he's Donnie, he wouldn't ask me to do anything bad, I don't think."

"But if he did he'd be able to get you to do it," Alex muttered.

"How did we get talking about this?" Don asked. "And can we stop? Please?"

"Sorry, we were trying to compliment you." Kerry chuckled a bit, hand fixing his hair slightly.

"I-It's okay," he said with a blush. "T-Thanks, I guess."

"So what game do you guys want to play?" Mikey asked as she went over to his consol.

"Whatever's fine by me," Alex said. "There can only be four people, so I'm just going to watch this time. I played earlier anyway."

"I'm cool with just watching too, I don't need to start raging now." Kerry said leaning back.

"A raging Kerry is never a good thing," Alex said.

"Hey, I've been told that I'm sexy as hell when pissed." Kerry laughed a bit.

"Who said that?" Alex asked.

"Well Mikey for one," Kerry said listing off. "Marcus, Elliot, and Emily."

"Mikey!" Don yelled with a side of growl.

"What? I shall not tell a lie!" he yelled. "I was being honest."

"Doesn't mean you say anything." Raph rolled his eyes slightly.

"Why not? I mean, just like Kerry's hot when she's pissed, Alex is super sexy when she's being all sweet and taking care of people," Mikey said.

Alex blushed, rubbing the back of her neck rather embarrassed. "Uh, thanks Mike. I think."

"Mikey!" Don and Raph snapped standing up. Mikey gave a yell and scrambled up to run away from them both.

" _Raph_ ," Alex complained, grabbing his arm before he had a chance to really run after Mikey. "Relax and sit back down. You were keeping me warm, idiot."

"B-But, Don isn't going to beat him up enough! He's a one hit guy!" Raph complained as he watched Don run out of the room after Mikey.

"I don't care, Mike's entitled to his own opinion," Alex said. "And why are you angry anyway?" She hushed her voice so that only he could hear, "Don and Kerry are kind of an undeclared thing, but why are you worked up about it?"

She was honestly very curious about it. She understood that Don was jealous and didn't want anybody to even think about Kerry in the way that he did, but why was Raph angry about Mikey saying something about her?

"I-I umm I uh well." Raph looked away. "I um doesn't mean I like him talking about you like that."

Alex just smirked and rolled her eyes. "Relax," she told him again, pulling him down. She chuckled as he huffed upon landing on the couch. "If it makes you feel any better, just think that I'm sitting here like this with you and not Mikey. He can think what he wants, but that doesn't mean I'd do this with him. Does that help?"

"...I guess." Raph mumbled a bit slowly easing an arm around her again. "Makes me feel a bit better."

"Good," Alex said, cuddling up to his side. "Sometimes it funny when you get worked up like that, but I don't like it when you're angry." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'd rather you be relaxed and happy."

"Well, anger is kind of my thing," he mumbled slightly.

"No, I know that," she laughed. "I mean, you have annoyed angry, that's all good. That's the sometimes funny, sexy angry. But there's that white, hot, furious, murderous anger. The thought of that scares me."

"Fine fine," Raph said looking away quickly. "...sorry." he mumbled a bit. "I don't mean to scare people."

"I don't think I've ever seen that," she told him, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I know it's there, so that's why I try to keep you calm and happy and away from things that could instigate that. Because, I mean, why put yourself in a situation that'll do that to you? It's best to just remove yourself from a situation like that. So don't worry about it. You don't scare me, Raph."

"I scare a lot of people." Raph shrugged. "That's sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. I've learned to reel in the anger when I need to."

Alex giggled softly. "That's my boy," she said, poking him in the side. "You're growing up!"

"Oh shut it." Raph grumbled a bit,

"Make me, Pumpkin," she said, flicking his forehead.

Raph gave a tug to her hair. "Hows that?"

Alex whined, sticking her tongue out. "Loser," she muttered, poking him in the side again.

"You're the loser." he grumbled.

"Oh, how am I the loser. _hm_?" she asked, a smirk in place and an eyebrow raised.

"You're the one being all sentimental on me."

"Oh, as if you don't secretly love it when I do that," she said with a fake glare. "You're the one that changes the subject and gets all embarrassed."

"Because I don't like heavy conversations." Raph looked away.

"Life is full of deep things, Raphael. Plus, when I generally get all deep and heavy like that, it's not usually with bad things," Alex said. "You should learn to deal with it, just like you did with your anger."

"I'll think about it." Raph rolled his eyes a bit. Watching as Don walked back in, a smirk in place and Mikey trailing behind him like a scolded puppy.

"What did you do to poor Mikey?" Alex asked.

"Oh we just had a nice long discussion. I am good with words, as you said," Donatello said innocently as he sat back down.

"He looks like you told him you ran over his puppy!" Alex said. _Huh, speaking of pets, I wonder how Spike is,_ she thought of hand.

"Mikey's always been overly dramatic about things." Don said nonchalantly. "Don't worry bout it, Alex," he said with a blinding smile.

"Okay," Alex muttered, unsure. She then turned her attention to Raph and asked, "How's Spike doing, by the way? I miss the little guy."

"Hmm? Oh he's fine. Chillin' in the awesome tank you got him." Raph smirked slightly.

"He like it here?" she asked.

"Loves it, he likes sunning himself on the window sill over there the best," Raph said pointing to the window along the wall.

"That's adorable!" she giggled, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "I can't wait to see him later. He's in your room, right?"

"Yep, sleeping all cosy." He said nodding.

Alex chuckled, "Well, that's the both of us then. You make a great pillow."

"Good to know," Raph mumbled. "I'm good for something, oh joy." he chuckled.

"You're good at a lot of things other than being a pillow, Pumpkin," she muttered, closing her eyes. She wasn't going to sleep with time, she was just relaxing and enjoying being in Raph's arms.

"Tch, I know that." Raph rolled his eyes. "I'm the best of the best."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Darling," she chuckled, poking him on the arm.

"Oi, you playing Raph or what?" Mikey asked holding up a controller.

"I can move so you can play," Alex said, starting to sit up.

"Just lay here instead," he told her as he moved to the corner of the sectional. "I can play around you," he said shrugging as he took the controler.

"If you're sure," she said, moving to sit between his legs. She rested her back against his chest, covering them with the blanket. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on her stomach with the controler slightly. Alex blushed slightly, feeling his rest his chin on top of her head in order to get the best view of the television screen.

"What game did you guys settle on?" Alex asked the boys.

"Sonic," Mikey said. "The best Hedgehog ever."

"They smell," Alex muttered. "We had one as a class pet when I was in fourth grade."

"Ferrets are so worse." Kerry said snuggling down under a blanket on her spot next to Don. Unlike Alex she was fighting tooth and nail to stay awake.

"I've never had one of those," Alex said. "You know you can go to sleep, right Kerry? You don't have to stay awake if you're that tired."

"Don't tell me what to do." Kerry grumbled to her. "I'll stay awake if I wanna stay awake."

"She's not telling you what to do," Don chuckled at her. "She's just letting you know that you don't need to feel obliged to stay awake if you're tired. We don't want to keep you from getting your rest."

"I want to be awake okay?" Kerry rolled her eyes. "I want to stay up."

"Okay," he chuckled. "But if you get too tired, you can, uh, you know, if you want, can rest your head on my, uh, lap," he stammered. "I-If you want."

"I-I umm right. Thanks Donnie, maybe I will." Kerry mumbled, hiding her lower face under her blanket, blush very apparent anyway.

Don smiled at her, a blush of his own dusting his tan cheeks. "Okay," he said.

"Kerry, just lay down already!" Alex said. "You'll be more comfortable. And I'm not saying you have to sleep, before you say anything."

"I-I, okay." Kerry mumbled. "Only to get you to be quiet!" She sat up blanket around her.

Don shifted to pull a pillow that he had been leaning on and placed it on his lap for Kerry to rest on. "T-There you go," he muttered to the dark haired girl. Kerry blushed as she moved over and rested lightly onto the pillow, black blanket resting over her.

"Thank you." Kerry mumbled, cheeks a dark red.

Don blushed deeply and nodded his head, gently placing a hand on her head to pet her hair for a moment as he said, "Y-Yeah, no problem, K-Kerry." He then removed his hand to place it back on the controler.

Alex giggled. She looked up at Raph and whispered, "Operating Korny is making a lot of progress today."

"Hell ya, they might just get up to holding hands." He said rolling his eyes. "It's still too slow."

"I agree," she said. "But at least it's getting somewhere, right?"

"Yeah, maybe we can give some incentive to make a move? You saw how Don reacted to that Greg guy."

"Yeah," Alex said. "What do you think we should do though?"

"I don't know, I mean, they need to experience what it would be like if they wait too long, it might be too late." Raph shrugged.

 _Does that count for me too?_ Alex thought. _Should I just come right out and say how I feel? But what if he doesn't feel the same? How can I put our friendship in danger like that?_ Alex gulped. "That's not really something we can show them though, is it?" Alex sighed.

"No." Raph mumbled. "But we can always hope."

Alex glanced over at Kerry and Don. "Yeah, always hope," she muttered.


	7. Almost Lost

Chapter 7

Almost Lost

Alex walked into the apartment, an odd expression on her face. Elliot was sitting on the couch reading a file that rest on his lap. He glanced over his shoulder to see the girl, furrowing his brow at her odd expression. Ellie closed the file as Alex dumped her backpack on the floor in front of the couch and plopped down.

"What's with that look?" he asked. "Something wrong, Munchkin?"

"Kerry wasn't at school today," Alex told him.

"So? Maybe she's sick," Elliot told her.

"Kerry doesn't usually get sick," Alex told him. "And the last time she was, she went in and ended up being forced to leave. The next day she was out and she called me to ask me to get her work."

"Have you called her?" he asked.

"I tried when I left school but I didn't get an answer," she told him.

"It can't hurt to try again," he said.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I just get the feeling that something weird is going to happen."

"Just give her a call, I'm sure that'll clear everything up, Munchmallow," he assured her.

"I hope so," Alex muttered, pulling out her phone. She dialed Kerry's number and listened to the dial tone until Kerry answered.

" _Yeah_ ," Kerry said as she picked up the phone, her voice oddly flat, no inflection or mood in her tone. It was just...odd. " _What's up, Alex?_ "

"Hey, is everything okay?" Alex asked. "You weren't at school today."

" _Yeah, I'm fine,"_ Kerry's voice said, continuing in a quick manner. " _Mom called today and so I spent it with her."_

"That's nice," Alex said. She wasn't convinced everything was okay though. "How is your mom?" she asked, trying to fish something out of her. Chances are that her weird behavior was due to her mom.

" _She's fine. My mom's fine,"_ Kerry said shortly. " _Alex. listen, I can't talk to you right now. I'll call you back when I can."_ She said quickly, rushing it out.

"O-Okay," Alex muttered. "But are you sure everything okay?"

" _Yeah. Fine. Everythings...going to fine. Bye,_ " Kerry said in a deadpan kind of way before hanging up on her, not allowing her to respond.

Alex heard the phone hanghang up and pulled it away from her ear to look at the End Call screen. "She hung up on me," Alex muttered to her brother.

"What?" he asked, looking at her shocked. "That doesn't sound like Kerry."

"Well, Kerry didn't sound much like Kerry either," she said. "Something's not right."

"Like what?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know," Alex admitted. "I'll ask her tomorrow, I guess."

* * *

Alex was silently freaking out as she paced around April's shop. The place was rather quiet, with April taking inventory while Alex was supposed to be manning the register. She was freaking out because Kerry wasn't in school again that day, and wasn't answering her calls. Again.

No one could get a hold of her at school, not Kiley or Emily. Even Phoebe got a voicemail. There was just _nothing_ from the dark skinned girl, just radio silence. No one at Kerry's work had seen her either, the girl having called in sick for her shifts.

"Alex, you're going to wear a hole in the floor if you continue to pace like that," April told her, walking over with a buddhist statue in her hands. She set it on the shelf behind the register and turned to the younger redhead. "What's going on?"  
"I can't get ahold of Kerry," Alex said. "Nobody can. She's not at school. She's not answering my calls or texts. I called the restaurant she works at and they said she called in sick. But when I called her yesterday to see why she wasn't in school, she told me she was fine and just talking to her mom. So she should have been in today."

"That doesn't sound like her at all," April frowned a bit, red brow furrowing as she put a hand to her chin in thought. "Do you think maybe it has something to do with her mom's call?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Alex muttered. "But she's not answering my calls or texts so she obviously isn't telling me what's up."

"Did you guys have a fight?" April asked concerned at the prospect.

"No," Alex answered. "Everything was fine the day before she didn't come in. I have no idea why she isn't talking to me."

"Well, has she said anything to Donatello? They're pretty close, right?" April thought.

Alex froze for a moment before turning on her heel to look at April. "I didn't think about that," she muttered, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Can I?" she asked, seeing as she was working.

"Go ahead, it's not like anybody's here," April groaned.

"Thanks," she muttered, dialing Don's number as she walked into the back storage room. She was rather disappointed when Don didn't' answer his phone. However, Donatello had a habit of ignoring his phone while he was working on things in the lab. So Alex dialed Raph's number.

" _Hey Alex, whatcha need?"_ Raph grunted into the phone, the sounds of a wrench cranking in the background making it obvious he was working on his bike again.

"Hey Pumpkin," she said with a smirk. "Whatcha wearing?" she asked teasingly.

" _For you baby, nothing."_ Raph joked right back at her.

Alex moaned, going along with it. "Oh, too bad I'm not there to take advantage of that."

" _Oh man, babe why you leavin me high and dry?"_ Raph chuckled. " _What's up?"_

Alex gulped. She couldn't believe she had just messed around when something weird was going on with Kerry. "Actually, something weird's going on," Alex told him, sitting down on the floor, her back against the wall.

" _Werid? What's weird?_ " Raph asked as the sound stopped as he got up. " _You guys okay?_ " he asked in concern for both her and her brothers.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," she told him. "It's just," she didn't know how to put it. "Have you guys talked to Kerry today or yesterday?" she asked.

" _No,"_ Raph said _. "But of course me and her aren't exactly texting buddies, as you very well know."_

"Right," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Could you ask Don for me? I tried calling him but he didn't answer."

" _Yeah, and now that you mention it. Don seems to be well...depressed. So maybe she hasn't texted or called him. But I'll check."_ Raph said and the sounds of footsteps and a door opening and closing sounded. He made his way down the hall and to his brothers lab.

"Thanks, Raph," Alex told him. "I mean, I hope it's nothing, but you know me. I'm a worrier."

"Yo! Brainiac! You didn't answer your phone, you got a phone call!" He yelled. Then there was the sound of the phone changing hands.

"Don?" Alex asked.

" _Alex?"_ Don asked slowly. " _What's up? Sorry I didn't answer, phones acting weird._ "

"Hey, don't worry about it," she told him. "Have you talked to Kerry at all the past couple of days?" she questioned.

" _N-Not even a single text_." Don mumbled a bit. " _Have you heard anything? I'm getting a bit...distressed._ " He sighed slightly.

"I talked to her for, like, two minutes yesterday on the phone. She wasn't at school. Said she was talking to her mom all day. Then she wasn't there again today and now she's not answering my calls at all."

" _God_ ," Don sighed again. " _I-I thought maybe I said something or, or maybe she's pissed about something and talked to you about it. Has_ anyone _seen her?_ "

"No," Alex muttered. "I'm kinda starting to freak out here, Don."

" _Starting too? Tch, Alex I'm going into a panic now."_ Don groaned. " _T-This isn't like her. Leo, Mikey, are you sure you've heard nothing from Kerry?"_ he asked and there were some verbal replies. " _They haven't heard from her, and Mikey went to pick up a burger during her shift the other night but she wasn't there. Alex, this is really freaky, it's...I...something wrong."_

"I know," Alex sighed, running a hand through her hair again. "I'm getting the same feeling."

" _What's our move, Alex_?" Don asked her seriously.

"I can stop over after my shift tonight," Alex told him. "I know where she keeps the spare key so if she doesn't answer I'll just let myself in."

" _W-Won't she be pissed if you do? Kerry's not exactly the most, well, open person about her private life._ " Don muttered sadly.

"Do you really think I give a shit if she's pissed about it right now?" Alex asked.

". _..No ma'am_." Don gave a bitter laugh. " _Alex, why do I get the feeling shit's going to hit the fan?_ " He swore a bit obviously in a bad mood.

"I don't know," she sighed. "But I feel it too, Don. I feel it too. You're welcome to come with me if you want."

" _Did you think I'd say no?"_ Don grumbled to her.

"Of course not, it's only polite to ask," Alex said.

" _Fuck manners,"_ Don swore again. " _I...I just want her to be okay."_

"You and me both, Don," Alex said. "Want me to call when I'm off?"

" _Yeah, I'll answer this time for sure. Let's find out what the hell is going on."_

* * *

Alex knocked extremely loudly on Kerry's apartment door, much louder than was absolutely necessary. She waited next to Don for an answer. Silence echoed in the quiet hallway, no sign of life until a door was opened...next door though. Esme stepped out in the hallway, dressed in shorts and and tank top.

"A-Alex?" The woman asked blinking at her. "Oh thank god!" she said hands to her mouth.

"Esme? What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"It's Kerry!" The older woman said in a panicked rush. "I haven't seen her leave her flat in _days_. I heard crashing and crying a few days ago but that's it. I banged on the door for her to let me in but she told me to go away."

"She was crying?" Don muttered, his expression pained.

"Did she tell you what was wrong?" Alex asked, putting a comforting hand on Don's arm.

"No, I tried over and over again for two hours but after she told me to leave it be she was silent. I wanted to call you but I didn't have your number," Esme said her voice tearful as her grey eyes watered a bit.

"That's it," Alex grumbled, Grumping up to grab the spare key she always hid on top of the door frame. "Fuck being polite. I'm letting myself in."

"May I?" Esme asked taking a step on her prosthetic to follow, Jax at her heels.

"You're more than welcome to join us," Alex told her. Alex unlocked the door and put the key back before entering the apartment. She held the door open for the others before shutting it.

The apartment was a complete mess, broken glass scattered across the wooden floor and chairs toppled over. It was completely dark, no lights on at all in the entire place, giving it an abandoned an eerie feeling to it.

"Kerry!" Alex called, worried that someone had broken in and hurt her. She turned on a light and rushed towards the bedroom.

"No!" Kerry's voice sounded from the other side and a weight shoved against the door before a lock sounded. "Get the fuck out, Alex!"

"Kerry?" Esme called in worry, moving slower to avoid the glass with her bare feet.

"Fucking hell! How many people did you let in here?!" Kerry swore at her again.

"Kerry? What's going on? Are you alright?" Don asked, placing a hand against the door. Kerry didn't swear or make a sound for a moment.

"Get out," she said softly and the sound of someone sliding down the door on the other side resounded in the silence.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on, Kerry," Don said. "You're not acting like yourself. It's scaring us."

"Just tell us what's going on and we can try and fix it, Kerry," Alex told her.

There was another round of silence before it was broken by the sound of someone crying to themself.

"Kerry?" Esme asked, sounding close to tears herself. "Kerry?"

"It can't be fixed." Kerry sniffed.

"You don't know that," Don said. "Remember, I'm good at fixing thing," he tried to tell her lightly, to get her to stop crying. "Just come out, _please_?" he begged.

Slowly, agonizingly slow and quiet, a decision was finally made. The sound of a door unlocking sounded and the door creaked open, revealing a pale Kerry, make-upless and bandaged up on her legs. and arms.

"Sorry I'm not dressed for entertaining." She grumbled to them. "That's what you get for coming unannounced."

"Kerry," Don muttered, stepping closer to Kerry. "What's going on?"

"I'm leaving." Kerry said darkly, green eyes seeming almost black at the moment.

"Leaving?" Esme asked her softly. "What do you mean, Sweetie? What happened to you?"

"The country, I'm leaving the country and I'm not coming back." Kerry said looking at Alex, putting her hands up. " _Surprise._ "

"What do you mean you're leaving the country?" Alex gaped.

"My mom is so fucking pissed." Kerry grumbled slightly. "She's sending me to England, to a boarding school for the rest of the year. Tea anyone?" She asked pushing past them to head to the kitchen."

"W-What?" Don gasped. "B-But why? Why is she mad? Why would she do this?"

"Because I fucked up." Kerry grumbled as she finally turned on a light, wincing a bit at the brightness as she got out her kettle. In the light she looked even worse. How long had she locked herself in her room? Did she even come out to eat? "Remember my Biology exam, the one with the slides I was so worried about?"

"The one I helped you get ready for?" Don asked.

"The one you got a good grade on because of how hard you worked on it?" Alex asked.

"The one you pranced around the building showing off?" Esme asked as well.

"All of the above." Kerry grumbled as she put some hot water on. "Well, as I worked hard on that one, I guess I wasn't paying attention to my pre-calculus work and got blindsided with a random pop quiz." The girl glared at the ground. "Didn't see it coming, of course, I mean, _pop_ quiz. I didn't fail, but I didn't exactly get a great grade on it. Dropped my grade down to a C."

"So she's mad you're not doing so hot in math?" Alex gaped.

"Yep," Kerry said popping the 'p'. "Any preferences? Camomile or Passion Fruit Lipton?" she asked opening a cabinet.

"Neither," Alex muttered. "Did you try explaining everything to her?"

Kerry grumbled at her attitude, as if she were the problem here, and got down the Passion Fruit. "You've met my mom, well conversed over my phone on a sketchy line, but same thing with my family. She holds our lineage to the utmost standards. I'm a Medina, we're champions, we're scientists, we're the strongest, smartest, and the best. Except for me, apparently." Kerry mumbled eyes going dark again.

"T-That's not right," Esme grumbled a bit.

"That's not true!" Don protested. "You're extremely smart! You always take on anything you set your mind to!"

"Don's right, Kerry," Alex said.

"And look where that got me. I can't just be smart, I need to be the best! The brightest! But I'm fucking not!" Kerry swore, slamming the kettle down as she went to pour some into a tea cup. "No child of hers will be mundane, she wants to know...why I am so ordinary." Kerry mumbled quietly after her temper tantrum.

"You're human, Kerry," Esme told her. "That's all anybody can ask you to be."

"Plus, you're anything but ordinary," Alex told her.

Kerry took a drink of her tea, shaking a head a bit as the warm liquid burned her throat. "Thanks for the cheering up guys, but nothings going to change. My plane leaves Friday."

"Friday!" Alex and Don gasped.

"She can't do that!" Alex protested.

"Oh hoho she can, trust me. I tried to say she can't and got my ass chewed out a second time." Kerry grumbled a bit.

"Kerry, have you tried talking to your mother calmly?" Esme asked. "Or maybe compromising?"

"Have you seen the living room?" Kerry blinked at her before rubbing her temple a bit. "Did I clean up the glass and forget? Days kinda blur together now." she huffed as she walked passed them.

"Stress and anxiety can do that to anybody," Esme told her.

"B-But you can't go," Don muttered, tears welling up in his brown eyes. Kerry froze a bit and turned to look at him.

"S-Shit Donnie." Kerry glowered, but her lower lip started shaking. "You think I want too? You think I want to just drop everything when I was so happy?"

"You can't go," he said, the tears slipping out. "You have a family here. She can't take you away from that, can she? She can't take you away from us. From me."

"D-Don, don't cry, please?" Kerry asked though tears spilled out her eyes too. She took a hesitant step to him, hand shaking as it reached out to, touch him, comfort him, anything. "I-I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you."

"T-Then don't." he said, stepping forward. "Please don't go. Tell her no. Tell her you'll do better. That you'll try harder. I can help. We all can. Just…" He grabbed Kerry's arms as he begged her. "Just please don't leave me."

"I tried!" Kerry said hiccupping. "I promised to try harder, to take extra collage classes this summer, I swore, begged, cried, and broke things. But she thinks that won't be good enough, that I need structure. But I don't! I need you!" Kerry said crying a bit, not ashamed at what she was saying, or that she had no make up on, or that she was blubbering like a baby.

Don pulled Kerry into his arms tightly, holding on for dear life. In his mind, if he held on as tightly as he could, she couldn't possibly leave. There wasn't a chance in the world that she'd be able to go away. Not if he held on tight enough.

"You can't go," he muttered into her hair. "Not now. Not ever. I can't…." It was extremely hard for him to get the words out. "I can't lose you, Kerry." He pulled back slightly, putting his hand under her chin to tilt her head up to look at him. Their faces were extremely close, their noses brushing. "Kerry, I…" Don looked her in the eyes before slowly closing them and leaning in and gently placing a hesitant, meaningful kiss to her lips.

Kerry's crying ceased for a moment in shock before new tears tracked down her cheeks as she kissed him back, knowing she was only hurting her self more by doing so. Her arms wrapped around him as she pressed closer, shaking in almost physical pain from their first and final kiss.

Alex huffed and turned away from the two heartbroken teenagers. Of course, leave it to them to kiss now, when things were at their worst. Kerry would be leaving and they wouldn't be able to see each other. It would break them. She ran her hands threw her hair in complete disbelief, hot tears running down her cheeks. It was unfair. This couldn't have been happening. Not to them. She couldn't believe Kerry was leaving. Her best friend was leaving the country and who knew it she'd ever see her again.

Alex had lost Fred, the guy who had been her best friend since elementary school. She lost her parents. Now she was going to lose Kerry too? She couldn't. She wouldn't. She was one of the only reasons Alex was doing better after what happened with her parents. If Kerry left, who knew what would happen. She'd be a wreck. It would wreck not only her, but Kerry as well.

Kerry didn't take starting new in a brand new place well. She got picked on and she didn't deal with that well, look at what happened with Amanda. The only reason that was dealt with was because of Alex and the guys. What would happen in England? Would they like her accent, or would they make fun of her too?

Alex couldn't let that happen to Kerry. Not again. Not ever. She couldn't let her heart break from leaving the only sister she ever had. The only brothers. The only guy she ever really fell completely head over heals for. She couldn't let her give up her life there with them because of one stupid quiz and a stupidly stubborn mother that wasn't ever even around for her daughter.

That was when Alex saw Kerry's phone on the floor. The screen was now cracked from being thrown, but looked as if it still worked. Alex picked it up with the intention of giving it back to Kerry, but then got an idea.

She had only met her mom once. She was a stubborn woman, she knew that. What was she heartless? She did care about Kerry enough to want her to do well in life, so she would want her to be happy, right? What if Alex and Don talked to her, tried to reason with her. They would be more level headed than Kerry would be, that was for sure.

But Kerry would never be up for it. She would think nothing would change her mother's mind. She wouldn't even let them try, most likely.

So what if she didn't know they did it? It couldn't hurt Kerry's chances, could it? Alex looked down at the phone for a moment before glancing back at Don and Kerry. They _had_ to try. She slipped the phone into her pocket and turned back to her friends. She was met with no longer tearful grey eyes. Esme's eyes had hardened with a strange and kind of scary determination. She looked at Alex with pierced lips. As Don and Kerry pulled away she clear her throat.

"Donatello, Alex. I'm sorry but can you two give me some time with Kerry. I'd like her to catch her breath and discuss options with her," Esme said gently mostly to the boy.

"I-I don't want to l-" Don started to protest.

"Don, it's okay," Alex said, walking over to pull him out. "Trust me, I've gotta tell you something." Kerry looked at him desperately as he pulled away.

"I'll show you two out," Esme said and eased Kerry down onto the couch. "Stay Jax," she ordered and her service dog hopped up the couch, licking the darker skinned girls face.

"W-Why are we leaving? We can't leave," Don frantically asked once they were in the hallway.

"Because I have Kerry's phone," Alex whispered to him.

"W-Why do you have her phone?" he asked. "Why is th- Oh. Are we doing what I think we're doing?"

"Yes, Brainiac," Alex teased. "We're gonna make a case Mrs. Medina can't refuse."

Esme soon stepped out into the hall, rushing over to her door and pulling out her spare key. She turned around and shoved it into Don's hand. "Here." Esme said to them. "I'll keep her breathing for the moment. Use my apartment so you'll be close."

"Thank you," Alex told her.

"Alex you need to hurry." Esme said, dead serious. "We don't know when Mrs. Medina will have signal and the next time could be after Kerry leaves."

"Will do," Alex said, pulling Don into the woman's apartment quickly. The moment she was inside, Alex found the number in Kerry's contacts and dialed, putting the phone on speaker. The two went over to the couch and sat down, placing the phone on the coffee table.

The phone was answered rather quickly, and her mother sounded oddly distressed.

" _Kerry?! Kerry are you alright? You haven't answer my calls."_

"Mrs. Medina?" Alex asked, "This is Alex and Donatello."

" _O-oh,"_ Dawn Medina said sounding shocked. " _Oh, right. My daughters best friends correct? Is she okay?"_

"If being an emotional wreck is okay, then yes," Alex told her. "She's not good, to be quite honest with you, Ma'am and I can't blame her. She told us they you were sending her to a boarding school in England. Is that right?"

" _Oh goodness. Is she having an episode?_!"

"An episode?" Don asked. "I'm sorry, I don't follow."

" _...Oh, the boy. Hello Donatello was it? Yes tell me, how are her speech patterns, exactly how distressed has she been acting? Any erratic or dangerous behavior_?"

"She's broken a lot of things," he told her. "But she's speaking just fine, I guess."

" _W-well that's a relief._ " the woman sighed thankfully. " _Anyway, yes. It's true I'm sending Kerry Lyn to a very nice boarding school in Manchester._ "

 _What kind of episode could make this a relief?_ Alex asked herself, but shook her head, knowing she needed to move quickly. Who knew how much longer they would have with Dawn Medina on the phone. "I-Is that really necessary, Ma'am?" Alex asked. "I mean, isn't England a little far?"

" _Yes, it is far, but it's a necessary evil."_ The woman sighed. " _My daughter needs the structure this school will provide. It's a very special school that will accommodate her needs very well. She needs this."_

"B-But the only reason she didn't do well on that quiz was because she was worried about a practical in her bio class that counted for more than half of her average," Alex told her. "And Don's the reason she did so well on that."

"I-I can tutor her," Don muttered to the woman. "Every day if needed. J-Just please," he begged. "Please don't send her away."

" _I'm sorry, but what exactly can you do_?" Dawn said, probably not meaning it to sound as offensive as it came out. " _I appreciate your helping her on her practical, but she obviously needs a knowledgeable tutor than can provide some grounding for her._ "

"Donatello's brilliant," Alex said. "He's the smartest person I've ever met."

"I can help her, I swear!" Don pressed. "Honestly, Ma'am. It's worth a chance, right? I mean, pulling her out of one school and sending her to another in a new country isn't going to do her or anybody any good. Her grades will fall."

"She'll be all alone," Alex added, trying to help. "What good will that do? Isn't it better to have her in a place where she's comfortable and has friends where she can learn? Where she can be happy?"

"...is she happy? Is my baby girl really happy there?" Dawn asked sounding so much more soft than ever before. She was cracking!

"From what I can tell, yes, she's happy," Alex said. "I mean, she has a family with me and my brothers. She has a family with the Hamato's. We all love and I know she loves us. She'd be doing the same thing for us right now if we were in her position. So you tell me. Does that sound like she's happy?"

" _Well,"_ Dawn said slowly. " _If it was just her grades I would be fine with her staying. But there's the problem of more struct-"_

"I can provide some structure Ma'am," a voice said from the door. Esme marched in, looking like a soldier going to war.

" _Miss Perin? You're there?"_ Dawn asked in shock.

"Yes ma'am. And I'll take care of your daughter." Esme said nodding as if the woman was there, she looked at the two children on her couch. "I am a practicing physical therapist with a minor in psychology. I believe I can provide what you're looking for to keep her in line."

" _I-I can't possible ask you to do that,"_ Dawn said. " _You're so young and-"_

"I'm going to have to insist." Esme cut off, a rather un Esme-like thing to do. "I'll do it and that's final." she said eyes narrowing.

Silence filled the air.

" _Very well then."_ Dawn said. " _I'll cancel her plane."_

"R-Really?" Alex gasped, hands clasped over her mouth.

"Y-You will? She can stay?" Don frantically asked.

" _She can stay. Just so long as her grades don't drop any further and I hear about no incidents of concern,"_ Dawn said. " _Make sure she's happy,"_ the woman seemed to beg, though it could be the static beginning to grow more and more apparent.

"Thank you so much," Alex told the woman. "And if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't be in such a right state if it wasn't for Kerry. She helped me a lot after my parents died. Your daughter has one of the kindest hearts out there, Ma'am."

" _I know,"_ Dawn said, sounding almost proud. " _She's my daughter. I wouldn't want her any other way. She is...far from ordinary. I'm sorry for your loss Alex."_

"Thank you, Ma'am. And if you don't mind, we should go break the news to Kerry," Alex said.

"Of course. Goodbye kids, get some rest. You too, Miss Perin." Dawn said as the connection deteriorated.

The group migrated back over to Kerry's apartment to tell her the great news. Esme had seemingly confirmed the girl to shower and change clothes.

"Okay, so this is what's happening," Alex said to Kerry casually when she entered room. "You're not going to England."

"Alex, don't kick me while I'm down." Kerry mumbled as she leaned against the wall, her body seemingly zapped of energy.

"No, really Kerry!" Don told her excitedly, walking over to her and taking by the arms. "You're not going to England!"

"Are you freaking planning on hijacking the plane or something?" Kerry mumbled looking at them as if they were high.

"No, we're not." Esme chuckled, a sweet smile on her face. "We convinced your mother to allow you to remain here, with us."

"Y-You what?" Kerry blinked looking at them.

"I called your mom. Don and I talked to her," Alex told her, kicking her feet up onto the overturned coffee table. "Esme sealed the deal."

Esme blushed a bit. "I-I did no such thing. It was these two who fought so much to keep you here," she said hand brushing Alex's hair gently.

"B-But h-how...w-why...what?" Kerry asked, brain not computing at the shocking news, but tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"Seriously," Alex said, getting up. "Did you really think we would let you go without a fight, Fruitcake?"

"Y..you fought that hard for me," she mumbled. "I-I get to stay with you?" she asked looking between the three.

"No, you have to move to timbuktu," Alex said with a clear smirk to make sure Kery knew she was joking. "Of course you're staying here! You'll just have to settle with us instead of hot guys with English accents. Sorry!"

"O-oh damn it Alex. R-Ruined m-my chance t-to date a f-foreigner." Kerry mumbled hugging the girl around her neck tightly, as if scared it was a dream.

"You'll just have to settle for Donatello then," Alex whispered to the girl. She pulled back and winked, letting Don almost tackle the girl with a hug. The girl gasped as her feet left the ground as he spun her around once.

"I-I get to stay with you." Kerry mumbled, this time, no question in her mind. After getting over her shock she hugging him around his neck as well, forehead on his.

"You can stay," he whispered, staring straight into her green eyes, nuzzling her nose with his. "We fixed it."

"You can fix anything." Kerry mumbled, a soft kiss pressed to his lips. "Thank you." she said smiling a bit.

"I'd do anything for you, Kerry," he whispered to her.

"Uh, you're going to have to clean this place up if you're going to be staying," Alex muttered, pushing some glass with her shoe, ruining the moment.

"Yeah well, I was going to go when she dragged me out by my dead body." Kerry laughed thought tears. "You know me, dramatic is my thing."

"Are you sure you don't want to be an actress?" Alex asked.

"Nah, too much work." Kerry shrugged. "and with how much my mom expects of me, I won't have time for that." she laughed.

"True, but you will have time to clean up the apartment," Alex joked.

"Shut up, Dorkfish," Kerry shot at her with a smirk. "I'll do it in the morning."

"Love you too, Fruitcake!"


	8. Celebration

Chapter 8

Celebration

To celebrate Kerry's staying in the states, Alex and the guys threw her a Not Going Away Party at Franco's the following Friday. Everybody showed up; the Hamatos, Phoebe and Rudy, Emily and Kiley and Erik. Even all of the O'Neil children were there, though pretty much all of the boys were spread out in Franco's, talking to other people.

The group pushed several tables together to make a big enough spot for everybody to sit. Alex was sitting next to Kerry, who had Don on her other side. Raph was on Alex's other side, of course, while Mikey was next to Raph. Followed by Leo, Erik, Kiley, Emily, Phoebe and Rudy.

"Dude, fuck England!" Mikey said.

"Mikey," Leo scolded, nodding in Phoebe's direction with a smack on the back of the head from Raph.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Phoebe," Mikey muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Phoebe just laughed. "None taken, Mikey," she told him. "England's not all bad though. Our food sometimes isn't the best, but still."

"It's has sexy accented guys," Emily said, back to her usual boy crazed self after what happened to her and Mikey. The two of them seemed to be getting along fine, just as they had before they really took an interest in one another, which everybody was thankful for. Neither were people to really hold grudges.

Don and Kerry, on the other hand, were rather off. Ever since they had kissed things had been extremely awkward between the two. They were stuck in that awkward stage between just being friend and something more. It was extremely cringe worthy to watch.

Alex was tempted to just go over to the two of them and force them to kiss again. She was still rather shocked they had done so in the first place. She had been right there when it happened and she could barely believe it. When she had told Raph, he didn't believe her at first. Then he was rather annoyed that he had missed it for himself.

"You were right," Alex told him. "They needed the threat of losing each other to push them."

"Yeah, I just never really wanted that to actually happen, you know?" Raph sighed. "I didn't want them to go through that pain."

"Yeah," she sighed, "But look at the bright side," she said, shifting in her seat to look at him better, "at least we managed to fix the situation. And it's set Operation Korny in a new direction."

"A very awkward direction." he chuckled a bit watching them. Kerry and Don's hand were close, pinkies overlapping and sometimes curling around the other's but never taking their hand. "But it's a step closer."

"I kinda just want to hit them both and snap them out of how dumb they're being," Alex told him, taking Raph's hand in her's, playing with his fingers.

"Yeah but, you can't. Let the two nerds figure it out. I mean, they did almost kiss when we showed up remember?" Raph said tightening his fingers around hers.

" _Almost_ being the operative word," Alex sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Give it a week. Donnie's hooked, I guess you can say. One taste and he's going to want more." Raph chuckled.

"Oh, how do you know that, Pumpkin?" she teased. "Have you been cheating on me, Raphael?"

"Nah, just intuition." He teased back. "I'd never cheat on you babe. Kinda like the feeling that made me think losing each other would bring them closer. Don's addicted now." he chuckled.

She chuckled, grabbing his chin with her free hand to bring him down. "That better be it," she giggled, kissing him on the lips.

"Tch," Raph smirked kissing her back with fever. "You know Kerry and I would murder each other if we ever tried to be romantic. It'd be a blood bath."

"Well, I thought about us when we first met," Alex old him, kissing him again.

"You didn't tackle me and try to beat the shit out of me before though." Raph chuckled kissing her nose. He sighed. "I'd kinda miss the hick if she left...kinda."

"Oh, you'd miss her a lot, don't lie," Alex said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well...okay maybe a bit more than I think now that I know she's staying." Raph grumbled. "I also wouldn't like how hurt you'd be." Raph murmured kissing her cheek. "I know how much she means to you, so she's important to me too."

Alex looked up at him, seeing the honesty in his eyes. He was telling the truth. And that was what made Alex's stomach flip. "You're kinda pretty perfect, you know that," she admitted without thinking.

"Thanks, I try." Raph grinned brightly at her, slicking back his spikes jokingly. "Don't fall too hard, okay? Don't want you hurting those pretty legs."

Alex knew she had to say something couply since all of her school friends believed she was really dating Raph, though there was a lot of honesty in her words. "Far too late for that, Loverboy," she told him softly.

"I'm sorry then Firecracker." Raph said kissing her lips.

"God guys, stage me up at my party with you being so fucking cute!" Kerry laughed. Though she was probably happy. She was used to throwing the party not being the center of one. She fought Alex, the guys, and Elliot tooth and nail every step of the way.

"Yeah, you're exceptionally touchy and kissy today," Kiley added.

"It's disgustingly cute," Leo muttered.

"Hey, don't mess with my OTP!" Emily yelled.

"Sorry," Alex muttered, but cuddling into Raph's side, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Huh? Why did you apologize?" he asked completely confused. "Screw them." he laughed, grinning at her, partly putting him in a good mood obviously.

"More like screw Lex," Emily giggled. "Oh, is that why you're all mushy?" she squealed. "You two slept together, didn't you?! Kiley and Erik were the same way when they did it!"

"Emily!" Kiley gasped, hitting her sister's arm.

"Emily, no! Bad," Kerry scolded. "Penalty! Hand over your phone for 10 minutes."

"Uh, n-no, Emily, that's not the case," Alex muttered, her face as red as her hair. Though, Alex had to admit, not for a lack of wanting to.

"Oh come on, Lex! Those sex toys are only good for so long. Raph's gotta practically be begging you for it!" Emily went on.

"No phone for an hour!" Kerry said snatching the device from her.

"Fuck your friends, Alex." Raph grumbled to her. "Kerry, amazingly, you are now my favorite of Alex's friends, congratulations you freaking hick."

Emily grumbled as she handed her phone over. "But they'd make extremely cute babies," she sighed.

That comment just reminded Alex of the conversation she had had with Kerry about her and Raph and Kerry and Don. How adorable they thought the babies would look if they ever had children with them. Her face grew even darker at that.

"You just lost your phone for an hour and ten minutes." Kerry said, seeing her friends embarrassment. If anything the girl got even more protective after almost being sent away.

"Hey, I'm entitled to an opinion," Emily said.

"But you don't have to say it out loud." Kiley groaned.

"Freedom of speech!" she declared.

"That's not how it works!" Leo rolled his eyes slightly.

"Technically it kind of is," Don muttered, getting all smarty pants on them.

"Donnie...stop being smart." Kerry said hitting his arm.

"But you like that I'm smart," he muttered with a small smirk on his face. Kerry's face turned red at the obvious flirting. Another new, and rather enjoyable, part of the relationship.

"Hmm, I do." Kerry said smirking right back. "But not when it works against me," she chuckled.

"Oh, sorry I'm late." A voice said over the music, coming close to the table. Esme Perin walked up with a soft smile on her face. She was dressed pretty, with a lovely short heel on her prosthetic and real foot. A peach colored skirt flowed around her hips matching her white lacy shirt perfectly. Her dark mane of curls swirled around her loosely for once. "I just got off from work."

 _Elliot will be happy,_ Alex thought with a smirk, tightening her hold on Raph's hand. She could just make out Ellie noticing Emse from across the room. He smirked and started to make his way across the room to where they were all sitting.

"Oh Essy!" Kerry blinked standing up. "I didn't think you'd come. I thought you worked late tonight."

"I did, but I took off early so I can celebrate with you!" Esme said a bright sweet smile on her face that could stop any boys heart. She handed the girl a small bag. "I got you something as well."

"Y-You didn't have too." Kerry mumbled embarrassed but took it not to be rude. She opened it up to reveal a repaired cell phone. On it was a stylish custom phone case, black with colorful dio de muertos skulls. Perfect for the borderline goth. "I-I love it! Thanks!" she said hugging the woman.

"No, I wanted too." Esme laughed as she hugged the girl back. "It's my job to provide stability remember. Also it's a high durability case so if you have a temper tantrum again, it won't break as easily," she mumbled with an eye roll.

"Hey!" Kerry pouted. "It was not a temper tantrum!"

"It was a hysterical breakdown, there's a difference," Alex laughed. "You look nice, Esme. Did you get all dressed up for Elliot?"

Esme's pale cheeks colored brightly. "N-No I did not."

"Really? Cause nobody would blame you if you did," Elliot said right behind the young woman. "I mean, I'm _me_!" He finished it off with a playful and flirtatious wink at the girl.

Esme yelped a bit stumbling to the side as he startled her. "Mr. O'Neil! I did not! I didn't want to show up in scrubs!" she mumbled through her blush said something else.

"You can stick with that story _all_ you want, Beautiful, but I'm still going that it's for me," Ellie told her. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, giving her knuckles a gentle kiss before saying, "You look escuisit, Esme."

"Thank you," Esme finally muttered. "You look wonderful too." Her shy grey eyes shifting to the ground.

"Care to dance?" he asked with a slight bow.

"O-Oh no no!" Esme said quickly. "I can't dance." she mumbled peeking at her leg and shifting a bit so it was behind her, as if ready to run.

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed. "There's nothing you can't do when you set your mind to it, Beautiful." He took her hand and pulled her gently out onto the dance floor as a slow song came on. It was I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz.

"Uh, s-speaking of dance," Don muttered, looking at Kerry. "Do you want to dance with me?" he asked her shyly.

"Of course Donnie." Kerry said softly, a slight grin in place. "Let's try something a bit slower than last time, yeah?"

Alex's attention was torn between watching her brother romance Esme and Don and Kerry awkwardly trying to get closer to one another. Esme was clinging to Elliot for dear life as she stumbled on her fake leg, a little embarrassed every time she did. Elliot would just smirk every time, finding it rather adorable and held her closer to him.

What she hadn't notice was Raph getting out of his chair beside her. "Oi," Raph said getting Alex's attention. He was out of his seat and looking at her expectantly. "Keeping me waiting huh? Hurry up," he motioned for Alex to join him on the dance floor.

"You want to dance?" Alex gaped, blinking in shock.

"Huh, yeah," Raph said as if it were a stupid question. "We always dance at Francos."

" _When I look into your eyes it's like watching the night sky, or a beautiful sunrise. Well, there's so much they hold and just like them old stars.."_

"Sorry it won't be as, um, memorable as last time." Kerry joked slightly as she took his hand to pull him with her onto the floor.

Don blushed, remembering Halloween. "Anytime I get to spend with you is memorable, Kerry," Don told her.

"You always say stuff like that!" Kerry groaned. "You're giving me a cavity." she chuckled a bit turning to him once in place, unsure how he prefered to slow dance, or if he really even knew how too.

"Well," he chuckled softly. "I'm good at fixing things."

"You going to fix my cavity?" Kerry raised an eyebrow. "How do you plan on doing that, hmm?" she took initiative and pulled his hands forward to wrap around her waist as her's came up around his neck.

"I could think of a couple ways," he smirked, a blush deepening on his cheeks. Kerry eyes widened a bit but she was not going to back down.

"Hmm, you might have to explain it to me, I'm not the genius here, after all." she snickered a bit.

" _I see that you've come so far to be right where you are. How old is your soul?"_

"Uh, well, I didn't think slow dancing would be your thing," Alex admitted, getting out of her chair. She took Raph's hand and walked out to the dance floor with him. "I mean, the last time we dance was on Halloween and you know how that ended."

"Well I won't let that happen tonight." Raph said seriously. "If any of us see that bitch we'll take her out." He said talking about him and his brothers. "She is _not_ going to ruin this for Kerry. Or for you." he said in a deadly tone.

Alex chuckled, wrapping her arms around Raph's neck as he placed his hands on her hips. She was very thankful she decided to wear heels despite the snow outside. She was not tall enough where she didn't have to really reach to do that. She was perfectly comfortable. "I wasn't talking about Amanda," she giggled, remembering that she had practically made out with him out on the dance floor, as well as grind up against him far more than she most likely should have.

"Oh...then what's the problem? Other than that the night went great." Raph laughed as he pulled her close to dance with her.

Alex blushed not only from her proximity to Raph, but because he had liked what she had done on Halloween. "Well, I'm glad you liked it," she muttered, biting her lip.

"Of course, we always party hard, right Firecracker?" he grinned.

"Actually, I'm not much of a partier," she admitted, resting her head against his chest. "I'd just come out because Fred wanted me to. Then I had fun with Kerry so…"

"Well now you do." Raph grinned. "Sides, even just the two of us can party hard right?" Raph said. "I'm a pretty fun guy."

"Hmhmhmhm," Alex chuckled threw a hum. "What are you proposing, Raph?" she teased, her voice low to push the tease even further.

"I-I don't even know." He laughed slightly. "I'm riding on the high of victory, I guess. Mush is all coming out of my mouth. "

"Victory? What did you win, Loverboy?" Alex asked, moving back just slightly to look up at him.

"Well, One, we get to keep Kerry and you and my brothers are happy. All of them, and I guess I am too. Two, we stuck it to her mom a bit. Three, Operation Korny is moving along nicely, as you can see. And Four, I get to dance with the hottest girl here. Quadruple Victory."

Alex blushed. "You flatter me far too much, Mr. Hamato," she muttered, biting her lip.

"And you deserve every bit of it," Raph swore. "Not everyone would fight tooth and nail to keep someone that close. I'm proud of you, Firecracker."

"You would have done the same thing," she muttered, resting her head back on his chest.

"Yeah, if you would have been the one sent away, you better believe skulls would be smashed to prevent it." Raph said. "And if it was still Kerry...maybe...but of course England would have sent her back anyway. She's a hazard to the public."

" _Well, I won't give up on us even if the skies get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up."_

"There's the obvious fixes," Don told her. "Painkiller until I can give you a filling. Pull the tooth, but nobody wants to do that for a simple cavity. And then there's the," he trailed off, "distraction method."

"Hmm that last one sounds promising." Kerry smirked darkly at him. "I mean, I can get distracted pretty easily."

"That's true," he muttered. "And there are so many different ways to do it."

"I'll take your recommendation, Doctor." Kerry grinned. "I'm in your hands."

"Well, I could give you a little demonstration, if you'd like," he muttered, moving in closer so that his nose was touching hers.

"Please?" Kerry mumbled pulling herself closer to him, enough to where he could feel her long lashes brushing his cheeks,

Don closed the distance, placing a sweet, gentle kiss to Kerry's lips. One of his hands moved away from her waist to the back of her neck, preventing Kerry from pulling back. Not that she really wanted too as she threw her own enthusiasm into the kiss. But of course air was needed, the damn stuff, and she had to pull back for the substance.

"Hmm, I think my cavity is already gone." Kerry smirked at him.

"See? A simple fix," Don chuckled, a triumphant smirk on his face.

" _And when you're needing your space to do some navigating. I'll be here patiently waiting to see what you find."_

Alex chuckled, shaking her head, which resulted in her nuzzling his chest. "You're an ass," she teased. "But I guess your fine ass is mine," she muttered without thinking.

"You bet _your_ fine ass it is," he joked.

"It's not as funny when you say it right before me, Loverboy," she laughed with a blush.

"Is too," Raph snickered a bit, a grin plasters on his face.

"Oh hush," she told him, gently pulling a tiny put of hair at his neck.

"Ow watch it.." he grumbled."... _Holy shit_!" Raph suddenly whispered in her ear

Alex pulled away, worried something bad had happened. "What? Raph, what's wrong?

"I-I wasn't going to believe it until now..." Raph mumbled staring at something. "but I guess I was right about addictions."

"Huh?" Alex asked, turning to look in the direction Raph was looking in. She eyes landed on Don and Kerry, who were locked in a kiss. She giggled, wrapping an arm around Raph while the other hand rested on his chest. "Told you," she sang.

"You weren't joking!" he gaped. "He fucking did it."

"Don't let him fool you," Alex giggled. "Don's got balls."

"Did he really yell at her mom?" Raph asked. "Tch and he has to to like Kerry Medina."

"I wouldn't say he yelled at her," Alex said. "He was just very... _Passionate_ about it."

"Don doesn't like people taking his stuff away, even as kids." Raph grinned.

" _'Cause even the stars they burn some even fall to the earth. We've got a lot to learn. God knows we're worth it. No, I won't give up."_

"You really can fix anything, can't you?" Kerry chuckled, arms tightening around him a bit more.

"Kerry?" Don asked, pulling back slightly to get a better look, to look her in the eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked lifting her head from his chest to meet his gaze again.

"W-What are we now?" he stammered, unsure about bringing this up yet.

"I-I..." Kerry stuttered, question throwing her a hard ball. "I really don't know, to be honest." Kerry sighed a bit. "Our relationship didn't necessarily follow protocol normal ones do."

"W-Well, what do you w-want us to be?" he asked nervously.

"A-Ah Donnie, you asking me some tough questions here." Kerry said, for once being honest with her feelings, he deserved that. "Ones I really don't know the answer to. I promise. I've never been like this with anyone before, no where close. I don't know where we're going, but if it helps...I like it." she grumbled looking away embarrassed she had said that, a blush on her cheeks. "A lot." she also tacked on.

"I do too," he reassured her. "A-And if you want, we could take whatever this is slow. One step at a time."

"That's probably for the best when dealing with me." Kerry chuckled. "If not I might send you off a really high place, like a cliff or building."

"Well," he chuckled. "I've always wanted to try base jumping," he joked.

" _I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily. I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make. Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use. The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake."_

"Maybe this means Operation Korny is a success," Alex thought to Raph.

"I'll believe that when they say it out loud." Raph grumbled a bit. "Until then, they're just messing around."

"I don't really think either of them are the type of people to just mess around if there isn't feeling behind it," she stated, putting her arms back around his neck to continue dancing.

"I know they care about each other, but they need to say it, to each other. I don't think they're ready for that kind of thing." Raph sighed as she pulled her close to his chest, arms entrapping her against him.

"You never know," Alex said. "For all we know, they could be doing that right now."

"Yeah yeah, dates don't mean love." Raph rolled his eyes.

"But it's a step forward," she said. "A _big_ step for them. I mean, a couple days ago, Kerry would barely even admit her own feels to herself. Now look at them."

" _And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend for us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn. We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in. I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am."_

"S-So," Don muttered. "I-I guess the first step would be," he muttered, "Would you go on a date with me, Kerry?" He was looking at her with those big brown hopeful eyes of his.

Kerry's breath caught and it was like her limbs locked up for a second. _Come on you are not freaking out while dancing with Donnie! Say it!...Say it! Oh look at him, so sweet and innocent._ She should not do this to him, she should not corrupt him, she shouldn't-

"Y-Yeah." Kerry said. "I-I'd love to go on a date with you."

-Say that.

"R-Really?" he asked completely shocked that she had agreed. "You will?"

"Yeah, I totally will," Kerry said, it being too late to back out now, with out killing him and breaking her own heart in the process. Maybe his won't end in disaster? Maybe? Please?

Don let out a rather loud laughed, pulling her into another kiss, this one much deeper and less gentle. Kerry blinked for a second, eyes wide as plates before she gather up the courage to return the kiss in the same manner, not able to stop the hand that ran through his curly hair.

" _I won't give up on us even if the skies get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up, I'm still looking up."_

"Whoa," Alex muttered, having seen the eager kiss Don had just planted on Kerry. "Well, that was unexpected."

"You'd think she just told him he won the nobel peace prize," Raph mumbled.

"Maybe that's how precious she is to him," she said.

"She is." Raph chuckled slightly. "Trust me, she is."

"Well, I don't have to worry about either of them being with someone I don't like," she said. "Do you know how many guys Emily's gone out with that have been sketchy? It's going to give me a heart attack worrying about her someday."

"Well if her judgement is that bad, I'm glad Mikey and her split," he chuckled a bit. "That boy makes enough bad decisions on his own.

"I worry about Mikey," she admitted. "He sees the good in everybody. And I don't want him to get hurt because of it."

"Yeah, I felt the same way too, but I came to realize I can't always be there to protect him, not without sacrificing both of our happiness. We need to live our lives, and that means experience our own pains," he mumbled, obviously not happy about it.

"And that's very hard for you," Alex giggled, moving her hand to his face to caress his cheek. "You're extremely overprotective, Pumpkin."

"Can you blame me?" Raph murmured. "You've seen how horrible this world can be, how can I _not_ worry? How can I not fight tooth and nail to protect my family."

Hearing that made her stomach flutter. Raph cared so much about his family. He put up such a thick wall up, but behind that wall was a protective brother who would do anything for the people he cared about. "No, I can't," she told him softly. "You have a good heart, Raph. And that's why I l-" Alex froze before she slipped up. She couldn't believe she had almost told him that was why she loved his so much. "T-That's why we all love you so much," she corrected herself.

"Thanks, I know I can be a bit of an ass sometimes." Raph said. "I don't exactly make it easy."

"That's just part of the Raphael charm," she laughed.

" _Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up). God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved). We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved). God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)."_

"So what do you want to do?" Don asked her. "We could go to the movies, or go ice skating. Or go out to dinner and a walk in the park," he rambled, thinking of ideas for them to do.

"Hmm, or the museum." Kerry suggested. "They just had an Ancient Greece exhibit open up and it's supposed to be really good. Oh, and the deep ocean exhibit is starting up again this year." Kerry rambled thinking of the stuff she thought of going to with Alex.

"The museum sounds perfect," he told her. "Something we'll both enjoy. Though I'd have a good time doing anything if it was with you."

"We might just end up having a nerd off." Kerry chuckled a bit. "I am a mad history buff, let me tell you," she giggled a bit. "I'd love to go anywhere with you, Donnie."

Don smiled brightly at her, completely happy to hear all of what Kerry was saying. "I've been waiting to do something like this with you for a long time, Kerry," he told her, moving a hand up to caress one of her cheeks.

"S-Sorry I kept you waiting," Kerry mumbled, leaning into his hand.

"Hey, it's worth the wait," he told her. "You're worth it. You'll always be worth it."

"I wish I could believe that, but I don't. Thanks for waiting anyway, Kerry mumbled, kissing his lips quickly, as if to reward him for being patient with her.

"I'm going to make you see that you are," he told her, completely determined. "I promise."

"Donnie, it's okay." she laughed slightly. "It's just how my brain works."

"Let me have this, Kerry," he told her. "Because you're not going to change my mind. You know how this thing works," he said, tapping his head.

"Hmmm, okay this once, I'll let you get away it." Kerry said smirking a bit. "I'm to stubborn to let you have anything else, Brainiac."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Kerry," he told her, kissing her cheek.

" _I won't give up on us even if the skies get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up."_

"I think I've only ever slow danced with my dad and my brothers," Alex admitted. "And that was when I was little."

"Really?" Raph asked. "You're a good dancer then." Raph complimented. "If you're this practiced despite all these years."

"Probably because of the martial arts," Alex thought. "What about you, Loverboy? How many dance partners have you had?"

"Hmm, I danced with a family friend's daughter at a wedding once, but we were like, I don't know, 10 maybe?" Raph shrugged. "I don't know, it was a while."

"Well, you're doing great," Alex said. "Though we're really only rocking back and forth so…"

"I can do better than that," Raph smirked slightly. Before Alex had the chance to ask what the heck he was talking about, he pulled back, keeping hold of one of her hands, spinning her out before pulling her back in. He securely wrapped an arm around her and dipped her backwards.

"Uh," Alex muttered, completely stunned. She blushed, looking up at Raph, who had a cocky little smirk in place. It was weird being at that angle, and her stomach fluttered, behind in his arms, trusting him to keep her secure and safe from falling. That didn't stop her from grabbing onto his forearms on instinct, which brought her that much closer to Raph.

"Wee?" she muttered, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Wee? I just show you the amazing skills I naturally posses and you say wee?" Raph scoffed as if offended. He righted her back up.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked. She cleared her throat and made her voice higher than it really was as she joked, "Oh Raphael, you are so talented and such a gentleman. How could I ever thank you for gracing me with such moves? Oh, how could I ever live another second without professing my undying love for you? Marry me Raphael and make me the happiest girl in the world!" She snorted, her voice going back to normal. "How was that?"

"...no need to get sarcastic on me." Raph grumbled to her, crossing his arms and he started to sulk a bit.

"Oh come on," she said, grabbing onto his arm. "Don't be like that. I was only joking." She lead him over to the drink bar to get something. "It was fun. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smirked slightly as he let her pull him.

"You want something to drink?" she asked as she grab herself a water.

"Yeah can you hand me a root beer?" he asked as he looked out at the dance floor.

"Of course," she told him, grabbing a drink for him. She turned back around and handed it to him with a soft smile.

"Thanks," he nodded taking a much needed drink.

"Well, now that Don and Kerry are, uh, whatever they are, you think Kiley and Erik are going to bug them to go on double and triple dates with them?" she asked. "I mean, almost every other week she'd ask me to see if you wanted to have a double date with them."

"And? Why did you never say okay? Do they suck or something?" Raph asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just didn't think you'd want to," she admitted with a shrug. "I mean, we already have to pretend at things like this, or if we happen to see them out and about. I didn't want you to have to go out on a date and pretend anymore than you had to."

Raph shifted awkwardly on his feet for a moment before he peeked at her from the corner of his eyes before sighing a bit.

Alex was confused by his sudden change in attitude. _Did I say something wrong? Does he actually want to go with them?_ "Why, did you want to go? The next time they ask I can say yes, if you'd like."

"Go ahead." Raph said not looking at her still, embarrassed over something.

"Really?" Alex asked, her own blush crawling onto her cheeks. He wanted to go on a double date with her? But why would he want to pretend anymore than he had to? It didn't make sense until he actually...Unless he actually had feelings for her. "You want to?"

"Yeah, I mean, why not? And 'sides it can be a triple date if we add Don and Kerry," he said in a rush, in order to escape the awkward moment.

Alex bit her lip, happy at he actually wanted to. "Okay," she told him, nodding her head. "Yeah, I'll say yes the next time they ask."

"Alright." Raph said clearing his throat and taking another drinking. "It's a date then."

 _A date? A real date?_ "It's a date," she repeated, hesitantly taking his hand.

Raph's hand automatically tightened around hers, almost as if out of habit. It was smooth and natural to do so.

"You want to go back to the table with the others?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry and you know Mikey will try and claim all the pizza." Raph chuckled a bit.

Alex chuckled, pulling him back to the table. They passed Elliot and Esme as they went, the two young adults watching them intensely without either redhead knowing.

"I can't believe you dragged me out here to dance." Esme mumbled a bit, though her eyes watched the two couples once more converge at the table.

"You can't tell me you didn't have fun!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Okay," Esme sighed a bit after a few moments. "It was a little fun," she chuckled a bit.

"Only a little," Elliot whined. "Okay, if was only a little fun, you have to let me take you out to dinner to make it up to you."

This wasn't the first time he's asked her that, but as she looked at him she found she didn't want to say no. This man was persistent. "...I suppose I could agree to a night out." Esme said looking down a bit. As she did her eyes caught the couples again. "Well well well." she giggled out of the blue. "Things look cosy over there."

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked, glancing over in the direction she was looking in. The only thing out of the ordinary at the group of teens was that Kerry and Don were acting far cozier than they normally were. Kerry was tucked away under Don's arm, nuzzled against his side happily as she laughed.

"Seems those two are a bit less awkward now." Esme pointed out. "After he kissed her I wasn't sure if they'd work through this stage, good to know they're making progress."

"Even if they were awkward, Alex would probably fix that," he told her, being a little more serious than he normally was. "She's kind of made them her mission."

"Wait wait wait, they're _her_ mission. But Alex and Raph is Kerry's mission." Esme asked blinking at him, enjoying his serious side though for once. "She talks all the time about how she wants them together."

"Yeah, it's a whole mess of trying to get people together," Elliot told her. "Kerry, Mikey and Don are trying to get Raph and Alex together. Alex and Raph are trying to get Don and Kerry together."

"Wait, isn't Mikey helping Alex too?" Esme asked. "Is he a double agent?" she chuckled a bit, "Our kids are the best aren't they? So concerned about each other's happiness."

"Yeah, they're good kids," he said. "But not as good as you, Beautiful."

"I-I haven't done anything at all." Esme huffed a bit, but out of embarrassment, cheeks red.

"You haven't done anything, really?" Elliot chuckled. "Esme, you help people for a _living_. You helped us when my parents died. You're still around helping us. You're helping Kerry. You have no off button, Beautiful. You're beautiful inside and out."

"I-I'm just doing my job, and as for your family you needed someone so I stepped up to fill the role anyone else could have." Esme mumbled a bit, fiddling with her hair. "And I just couldn't sit there and let Kerry be taken away over just a silly quiz, I spoke before thinking." Esme succeed herself.

"And those instincts that you act upon are what make you such a good person," he told her. "You're a great person, Esme. You shouldn't put yourself down like that. I won't listen to it, that's for sure. I'll just have to go on gushing about you until you realize it yourself."

"I'm not putting myself down." Esme rolled her eyes, "And don't you dare! It's embarrassing!"

"You're downplaying your actions," he said. He chuckled, taking her hand that was fiddling with her hair into his hand. "Oh Beautiful, I'm going to be around to embarrass you for the rest of your life. You should just get used it it, Love."

"E-Elliot?" Esme blinked at him face exploding into a red hot blush. "Oh are you ever serious about anything!?" she huffed looking away, but her hand never leaving his. It was so warm and welcoming she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"I meant every word, Beautiful," he told her, kissing her hand. "Now, about that date…"

"Ugh, I'm going to regret agreeing to that, aren't I?" she groaned a bit.

"Never," he told her.

"Hmm, we'll see."


	9. Hockey

Chapter 9

Hockey

Alex was rummaging through her dresser drawers looking for her Mike Richter Ranger's jersey as her cellphone was wedged between her ear and her shoulder. The phone rang several times as she waited for Raphael to pick up.

"Come on, where are you?" she muttered to herself. "Ah, there you are!" she exclaimed, pulling out the jersey. _Now all I need is for Raph to hurry up and pick up! We'll miss the game if he doesn't._

"Hello?" Raph asked just before it went to voice mail.

"Talk dirty to me," she said, her voice lower than normal.

"Hello Alex," Raph said simply. "How are you doing?" he asked sarcastically.

"Aw, come on! That's no fun!" she laughed, putting her phone on speaker so she could change her clothes. She took off her tee-shirt, tossing it into the laundry hamper in the corner of her room before sliding out of her basketball shorts.

She could just almost hear Raph rolling his eyes. "What do you want?" he chuckled.

"You doing anything tonight?" she asked. "You know, besides yourself."

"Oh hahaha ha." Raph grumbled. "But no, I'm not doing anything. What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well, I just so happen to be dateless for the Rangers game tonight if you're interested in going," she told him, slipping into a pair of leggings and the jersey. She plopped down on the bed and took the phone off of speaker, putting it between her ear and shoulder again to put on her winter boots.

"What? Are you serious? I thought they were your brother's tickets." Raph asked quickly.

"They are and he was going to go with me, but his date with Esme got scheduled for tonight so he cancelled on me, but gave me the other ticket," she said. "So you wanna go?" she asked, leaving her room to grab her coat.

"He gave up his tickets to go out with that woman? Tch why not take her. Or reschedule." Raph chuckled. "I'm getting dressed now. Why did you even ask?"

Alex laughed. She knew Raph would want to go. "Being polite," she said "And I think he's waiting to let Esme see his sports fan side. It's a lot to handle if you haven't been around it very much."

"He can't be that bad," Raph chuckled. "Wait till you see me." He warned a bit.

"I don't know," Alex muttered. "There's a whole lot of shouting and throwing of snacks with Elliot."

"Oh you'll get that, and maybe a few fist fights." Raph laughed. "I'm heading over now." he said the sound of keys being picked up sounding from the other side of the phone.

"Don't keep me waiting long, Loverboy," she teased again.

"Oh you know I never do, Baby." he laughed before hanging up.

* * *

"Dang, I didn't realize I got him this good of seats," Alex muttered as the two made their way to their seats right next to the glass, close to the Range's goal. "I should make him take me more often," she laughed. Once they were at their seats, Alex took off her coat and hung it on the back of her seat.

"I am in no way complaining!" Raph cheered a bit as he sat down next to her. "This is going to be awesome!"

"You're welcome," she giggled, kissing his cheek. "Do you want to eat now, or later?"

"Hmm, let me go get us some food now, so maybe half of it won't end up on the glass." he chuckled a bit.

"I'm excited to see you get worked up here," she laughed. "If it's anywhere close to how you act when you watch the games on TV, I'm sure in for an earful."

"Oh yeah, you're going to need a hearing aid," Raph chuckled getting up. "What do you want to eat?"

"Could you get me some chili?" she asked, pulling out some money from her coat pocket to give to him. She tried to give him the money, but all she received was an odd look from the male redhead.

"Yeah, I'll get you some. Don't worry about it." Raph scoffed. "You brought me to the game, I'll take care of the food." Raph smirked before turning around.

"Loser!" she called out. She watched Raph go before sighed. She hadn't intended to let him pay when she invited him out. It was supposed to be her treat. Now she felt bad.

"Hey," someone behind her said. "Hey, Girly!"

Alex turned around to see a man in his early twenties sitting behind her. He wore a generic hockey mask on the top of his head with a NY Rangers sweatshirt. His feet were resting on the empty chair on the other side of her. His black hair was in a mess due to his mask.

"Yes?" she asked, confused as to why he was talking to her.

"Let the guy pay," he told her. "Makes him feel important."

"But I was the one the invited him," she told him, not sure why she was telling the stranger that.

"Even more reason to let him buy the food!" he exclaimed.

"I don't see how that makes any sense," she muttered.

"Look," the man explained. "If you brought him here and bought everything it'd make him feel indebted to you, right? So a way to make him feel more comfortable is for him to pay for the food. Like a thank you. And the best thing you can do is smile pretty and say thanks when he comes back."

"Men are confusing," Alex huffed.

"We could say the same about you," he joked. "Name's Casey. Casey Jones." He stuck out his hand for the girl to shake.

"Alex O'Neil," she introduced, shaking his much larger hand.

"Hey," Raph said coming back. "Chili, extra cheese right? I think I remember you saying that last time we watched a game."

"Mm," Alex said, taking the warm cup of chili from him. "Just the way I like it," she told him. "Thank you." She glanced back at Casey to see that he was giving her a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes and smirked at the goofball.

"No prob," Raph smirked obviously pleased. He noticed her looking behind her and turned to the guy. "Ummm hi?"

"Sup man," Casey nodded to him, acting as if nothing was up.

Alex laughed and shook her head. "Raph, this is Casey. Casey, this is Raph."

"Sup," Raph said shaking the guys hand. "Sorry, she's one of those social types." he joked.

"Ass," she muttered, taking a spoonful of chili. "I was talking bad about you to him, so I'd shut up before I do it again."

"Hey now, is that anyway to talk to the hottest guy you know?" Raph scoffed at her. "I might just melt all the ice."

"Pf," she huffed. " _Puh-lease!_ Have you not seen your brothers? I think Leo's pretty sexy, Don's got that whole intellectual thing going and Mikey's just gosh darn adorable."

"All pale in comparison to me," Raph growled. "And never say anything about my brothers being cute, hot, or sexy ever again."

"Why? _Jealous_ , Pumpkin?" she teased with a smirk.

"I am not!"

"Don't worry, Pumpkin," she said, pinching his cheek. "You've got nothing to worry about. Even if I am the hottest little thing you've ever manage to catch." She winked teasingly to make sure he knew she was joking.

"Go fuck yourself-" Raph started. "Oh wait, you already do," he shot back.

She couldn't believe he had just said that! Especially in public with strangers all around them to hear! There was no way she was going to let him win though. "And I will," she said with a deep red blush. "And you won't be getting any. _Now_ who's at a loss?"

"Oh screw you, my hand is a better lay anyway,"Raph argued.

"You two are an odd couple," Casey muttered.

"Your point, ugly?" Raph scoffed at him.

"I'm ugly? Have you looked in a mirror?" Casey asked.

"I have and even I've fallen in love with the man in the mirror," Raph said running a hand through his red spikes.

"What the hell do you see in this guy?" Casey asked Alex.

She shook her head and muttered before eating another spoonful, "I ask myself that question every day."

"She sees her other half." Raph snorted a bit.

"The asshole has a point," Alex muttered, finishing her chili.

"HA!" Raph said. "Suck on that," he told Casey as he finished his hot dog.

"You know, there are so many innuendos I can make when you say that eating a fucking hotdog," Alex muttered.

Casey laughed, slapping the girl on the back. "I like you, kid."

"Look at all the fucks I give!" Raph said in a sing song voice holding up his empty hands.

"Obviously none of them go to your girlfriend," Casey said. "All your hand buddy. All your hand."

"She handles herself man, all I get is kisses. Why should I give her more than that?" Raph pretended to huff.

"Kisses only go so far, man," he said. "The sex is the best part!"

Alex coughed on the water Raph had bought for her, along with the chili. "Why should you give me more than that? Huh, no more fucking chocolate pie for you," she huffed.

"No, not the pie!" Raph groaned. "That leaves me with Kerry's cupcakes, good but not as good! I'm left unsatisfied!"

"Just like with your hand, Man," Casey said. "Left unsatisfied compared to the actual thing."

"Right, and I'm a girl that has needs. If I'm not getting any from you, I'll take care of it myself!" Alex exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched the hockey players skate onto the ice from the locker rooms.

"Allie, babe, come on." Raph groaned, nuzzling the side of her face. "Pleeease? I don't ask for much here..."

Alex had to fight back the smirk that wanted to creep onto her lips. "Fine, you can have the sex, but you're still in the penalty box for the pie," she teased.

"But I wanted the pie." Raph joked a bit.

"You're taking pie over sex?" Casey gaped. "Are you gay?"

"No, her pie is amazing, Man. I'm serious," Raph said. "Made from scratch, nothing you ever taste will be as good ever again in comparison to this pie."

"I bet I'd be just as good in bed," Alex muttered under her breath to herself. She couldn't believe he was taking her pie over her!

"She can really make pie that good?" Casey asked.

"God yes," Raph chuckled.

Alex rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that Raph thought about her pie more than he thought about anything else about her. She was slightly insulted. Did he not think about her like that? She thought he had, from the way he reacted to the lingerie and the toys. Alex sighed, watching the teams line up on the ice. None of them had been paying attention to the announcer as they spoke.

"We'll talk about your little sex later, promise," Raph suddenly whispered into her ear, giving it a nip.

Alex's face darkened. She felt as if all of her blood suddenly rushed to her face. She turned her head, gaping at the red headed male next to her. Was he being serious? Alex couldn't tell if he was joking anymore of if he meant it.

"Start the clock already!" Raph hollered, not taking in mind she might be embarrassed.

"R-Relax, Raph," Alex told him, rolling her eyes. "Kinda have to do the National Anthem."

"Yeah, where's your sense of patriotism?" Casey teased.

"When we walked in you were complaining that the players were shoving eachother into the glass yet." Raph scoffed.

"My favorite part is the fights, so what?" Alex said. "At least I have enough patience for the Anthem."

"Hey, no judgement, they're mine too." Raph smirked at her.

"Make that three," Casey said.

"You just went up on the awesome scale, bro." Raph smiled at him. Uh no, budding bromance alert.

"Great, just what I need around, another _you_!" Alex muttered, standing up for the National Anthem.

Once the anthem was done, the crowd cheered and sat back down for the dropping of the puck.

"Come on, boys," Alex muttered, sitting forward in her seat. "Make me proud to be a Rangers fan."

"Let's go!" Raph clapped in encouragement.

There was quite a bit of yelling in the crowd as the first period progressed. The Rangers scored the first goal on a power play, while the other team game back with one of their own. The audience was rather upset about that, but the Rangers came back with another goal right before the period ended. Casey had gotten up when the period ended and went to the bathroom.

"Thank God we ate before the game," Alex muttered, watching as the crowds all migrated towards the concession stands. "I'd hate to be caught in that."

"See, I'm pretty smart sometimes," Raph laughed. "Donnie can't always have the brains."

"Sure he can," Alex laughed. "He's the smart one. Plus, none of you are _actually_ related by genes."

"So? We're more like brothers than most actual brothers are to each other. Our bond is stronger than anything because we don't have the excuse of blood tying us together," Raph said seriously.

"Raph, Honey, I was joking," Alex said, rubbing his arms to calm him down.

"I know," Raph sighed. "B-But you know ever since we got adopted our blood relation has been a...touchy subject. I mean, what if one of us needs a kidney or something? We aren't actually related so we won't match and have to depend on strangers to save our brother."

"Hey, you don't have to think about that right now," she told him, taking his hand. "The chances of that happening are slim. So it's better not to think about it unless you have to. Plus, if any of you needed a kidney and none were a match, I'd offer."

"I know you would," Raph said with a sigh, kissing her head gently. "And thanks for that."

"You guys would do the same for me and my family, and Kerry," she said, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Tch, doesn't Kerry count as your family?" Raph joked.

" _Unfortunately_ ," Alex jokingly sighed dramatically.

"Okay, so you guys go from fighting to cuddling?" Casey asked, getting back from the bathroom. "You guys really don't make sense whatsoever!"

Alex rolled her eyes and stood up to stretch.

"That makes it the best relationship, don't get stuck in the past." Raph snickered at him. "You need you a girl, man."

"Tell me about it," he said. "Do you know how long it's been since I've gotten la-"

"I really don't want to hear the end of that sentence," Alex muttered.

"Guy like you needs a woman to keep you straight man, not a lay. One who won't let you get away with anything stupid." Raph said. "And by the look of your face, you do a lot of stupid things."

"Say that to my face you litt-"

"I just did you, dumbass, what need a hearing aid or something old m-"

The person sitting next to Casey tapped Alex on the shoulder and pointed up at the large screen above their heads. They were pointing the camera at them. Around the border of the screen flashed, "Kiss Cam!" Alex blinked for a moment before looking at Raph.

She smirked, grabbing Raph's shoulder while he was in the middle of his sentence. She pulled him down by the front of his sweatshirt, planting one right on his lips. A second after their lips met, Alex pushed her tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss to give the camera the shot they wanted, and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she really wanted to make out with him. She pulled away just as quickly, acting as if nothing happened and sat back down.

"...What the fuck, Alex?" Raph swore at her.

"The Kiss Cam was on us," she stated with a shrug, as if that was answer enough. She watched the puck drop. The Rangers had it, circling around the goal.

"Warn a guy, could have given them an even better show." Raph grumbled a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes, but smirked, her face slightly red at the thought.

"You can put on a better show than that?" Casey asked. "Damn."

The buzzer went off telling everybody that another goal was scored. Alex jumped up, yelling in triumph as the Rangers kept the lead. "That's my boys!" she yelled. "Down with the Blackhawks!"

"Let's go, let's go!" Raph called out to them, "Keep ahead of the game!"

Alex sat back down with the rest of the crowd. "Glad I called?" she asked Raph in reference to her invitation, nodding towards the great game taking place.

"Definately." He grinned a bit. "Best date ever."

"Really?" Alex asked with a blush. "How many dates have you been on again, Loverboy?"

"Not that many, not a people person to begin with." Raph said, his arms around her, rubbing her arms to make sure she was warm.

"Oh, I feel so honored that you love me so much," she said, placing a hand over her heart overdramatically. She moved in closer to him without realizing it.

"You don't even know," Raph mumbled a bit, pulling her closer.

That statement confused Alex slightly. What did he mean by that? "Why don't you try explaining it to me then," she muttered, pulling back just enough to look up at him in the eyes.

"I've...never cared for anyone other than my family, the way I feel about you." Raph said, trying to focus only on the game as he confessed.

 _Holy shit!_ Alex almost gaped. _He likes me? Oh my God he likes me. Oh my God. What the hell do I do? I can't just leave him hanging, right? I've gotta tell him I like him otherwise he'll think I don't like him and I do. Holy shit he likes me!_

"You're my best friend," Alex muttered after hearing that. "And, uh, Emily used to tease me and Fred when we were best friends. She thought we'd be perfect together, but there never was a spark for me. _Ever_. But you?" she muttered, glancing up at the scoreboard. "God, I don't even remember what it was like to not have you around, or to not be…" Alex took in a deep breath before gulping. She subconsciously reached up and grabbed the necklace he had made for her. "I can't remember what it was like to not be in love with my best friend."

"It's awkward, right?" Raph mumbled as if were a normal conversation. "I mean, knowing someone has so much control over what you do or what you think just because being near them makes you sick to your stomach but not in the bad way. It's confusing." he sighed.

"It is," she admitted, glancing at him sideways. "But honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yeah, the good feelings make up for it, right?" Raph sighed a bit.

He still wasn't looking at her though, which made her extremely nervous. "Raph?" she asked softly. "I love you," she told him, trying to reassure him in anyway that she could. She didn't know if it was the right move to make, but it was worth a shot. If there was any possibility of making him feel more comfortable and relieved she was going to do it.

Raph was quiet for a moment. "I love you too." he mumbled looking down and away.

Her stomach flipped, hearing him admit it. Raphael Hamato loved her! "You know, you could look me in the eyes and say that," she told him with a smirk.

"Don't push your luck." Raph glared at her.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Loser," she muttered, moving in to kiss his cheek.

"Butch." Raph snorted at her.

"Ass."

"Bitch."

"Hothead."

"Firecracker."

"Loverboy."

"Freak."

"Okay, enough of that," Casey muttered behind them. "I keep watching you two instead of the game! It's _disgusting_!"

"Tch, jealous Jones?" Raph shot over his shoulder.

"Me? Jealous of two teenagers? You're nuts," he said.

"I think intuitive is the correct word."

The second period ended and the zamboni went out onto the ice to prepare it for the third and final period. Alex always thought watching the zamboni was rather relaxing. It was a good thing too, since she was always around such high strung hockey fans. She needed something to calm her down. Before they knew it, the game was continued.

"Hey Ref! Are you pregnant? You've missed two periods so far!" Raph snapped a bit at the game.

"Easy there, Hothead," Alex said, pulling him back down into his seat.

"Guy's freaking blind." Raph grumbled a bit. "That was totally icing!"

"Yes, we all know that," Alex said. "Doesn't mean you have to accuse the ref of being pregnant," she snorted. She tried to be serious about it, but that was one of the best lines she had ever heard yelled out in a hockey game ever.

"I am so taking that one," Casey told Raph.

"Don't _encourage_ him, Jones," Alex sighed.

"I don't need encouragement to call out the obvious!" he yelled pointedly at the ref.

"Well, you don't have to yell in my ear," she muttered. "My God, you're almost worse than my brother!"

"Ouch, you have to deal with an older brother?" Casey asked Raph. "I pity you, Man."

"Dude's actually pretty cool...after breaking my nose. "Raph shrugged a bit.

"He didn't break your nose!" Alex said. "Just kind of bent it a little. You can't even notice!"

"He broke your nose?" Casey asked. "Hope I never become a member of that family..."

"I've got an Aunt around your age if you're interested," Alex joked.

"Really cute too, red hair and green eyes," Raph tempted. "Looks a lot like Alex, actually."

"Got a pic?" he asked.

Alex pulled out her phone and brought up a picture of her and April. "This is April," she showed him.

"Whoa," he muttered. "Damn, she's…"

"Don't finish that," Alex cut him off.

"Yeah dude, I know. She's a spitfire too." Raph chuckled a bit.

"What the hell is a Spitfire?" Casey asked.

"She's fiery as hell and has a sharp tongue," Raph explained.

"So Alex really is the spitting image of her Aunt," Casey said.

"Pretty much," Alex muttered, putting her phone back in her coat pocket.

"Yeah, don't worry Alex, that's not a bad thing." Raph chuckled a bit.

"It better not," she muttered giving him that renown girlfriend walking on ice look. "So, uh, Raph?" Alex asked.

"Yeah?" Raph asked her.

"What exactly are we?" she asked.

"What we've been for a long time. Boyfriend and girlfriend, duh," he scoffed.

"Okay, just, uh, clearing that up," she said with a smirk. "How long ago did you stop faking?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Casey halted. "You two were _fake_ dating. So, wait, now you're really dating? That whole thing twenty minutes ago was your confessions?"

"It's a long story," Alex said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But pretty much, yeah."

"A long and complicated story." Raph sighed.

"Are we on some reality TV show right now or something?" Casey asked, looking around for a camera crew that wasn't shooting the game.

"No, we're not," Alex muttered, rolling her eyes. "We're just that cliche."

"Maybe we can sell the rights to our story and live comfortably for the rest of our lives." Raph teased.

"I'd be cool with that," Alex said, taking his hand.

"Perfect," Raph chuckled again.

They exchanged numbers with Casey, Raph having hit it off rather well with the knucklehead before he left.

"Oh _shit_ ," Alex muttered, realizing something extremely important as the final period came to an end. "We have to tell Elliot."

"... _FUCK_!" Raph groaned a bit, hitting his head on the glass.

"Hey now, don't do that," Alex said, taking his head in her hands. She kissed the spot where he hit before saying, "If you'd like, I can tell him on my own."

"...please? I can't afford another broken nose." Raph grumbled. "Don has it lucky Kerry doesn't have overprotective brothers."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Nah, he only reason Ellie didn't do that to Don is because he's afraid he'd scar Don for life." Alex stood up and put her coat on, getting ready to leave. "But yeah, I'll take care of Ellie."

"Poor guy already is, I mean he's dating Kerry." Raph scoffed. "Thanks."

Alex smacked Raph on the back of the head. "Don't talk about Kerry like that," she scolded. "She's going to be your future sister-in-law."

"She's not even your real sister!" Raph grumbled rubbing his head, thinking she meant them marrying.

"If she gets married to Don, she'd going to be your sister, stupid," Alex said with a roll of her eyes. Alex took his hand as they made their exit.

"Well shit, I can't escape her." Raph huffed a bit.

"Nope," she muttered. "And you're stuck with me too, so deal, Pumpkin."

"Well my life just got more complicated." Raph sighed.

"Babe, your life was _already_ complicated," Alex laughed.


	10. Brother Bear

Chapter 10

Brother Bear

Alex paced her bedroom quietly, her phone in her hand. She was debating on how to tell Kerry and her and Raph were now actually dating instead of, how Kerry put it, fating. _Should I just send a simple text? Should I call her? Should I invite her over to tell her? It was late though, so is Kerry even be up?_ Alex sighed, flopping down face first onto her bed. I'm making this more complicated than it has to be.

In the end, Alex decided to just call the girl. The phone rang in her ear as she flipped over onto her back. She pulled her legs up and shifted so that she could lean against her headboard.

" _Good, you called."_ Kerry answered, not even a hello exchanged. " _I was wondering what the fuck icing means in hockey. It's been bugging me, Tell me so I can sleep."_

"Icing's when a player shoot the puck across both the center red line and the opposing teams goal line and the puck remains untouched," Alex explained. "Why? You were watching hockey?"

" _Thank you! And_ trying _to watch hockey is the right way to say that_ " Kerry huffed a bit. " _Okay so whatcha need buttercup_?"

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to let you know that Raph and I are dating," she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"... _Yeah and?_ " Kerry asked after a pause. " _Anything else?_ "

"No, I mean, we're _actually_ dating," she said.

"Yeah, heard you the first time." Kerry said slowly, as if she were not all there.

Alex sat up, and looked at her phone oddly for a moment. "And you're not in the least bit shocked?" Alex asked.

" _Alex_ ," Kerry sighed, sounded exasperated. " _Literally_ everyone _knew you guys liked each other, except for_ you!"

"Okay, I guess the way I should have worded it would have been 'Are you surprised I actually told him?'" Alex asked.

" _Hmm, did I expect you to do it today and totally shove your tongue down his throat on kiss cam, no_ ," Kerry said. " _But I knew it was a short amount of time before you did._ "

"Huh, well, this was anticlimactic," Alex muttered.

" _Honey, I am not the final boss,_ " Kerry said lowly. " _Elliot is_."

Alex groaned, tipping over on her bed. "I know," she cried. "How the hell am I going to live through the night? How the hell is Raph not going to get murdered in his sleep?"

" _...I got a picture of Esme in a bikini._ " Kerry offered. " _She was going on vacation with her mom and needed a new one, sent me the pics to get an opinion. That help at all_?"

Alex thought about that for a moment. "I don't know," she sighed. "He had his date with her tonight. He's probably all in that dream state he gets in when he thinks about her. Maybe when I tell him he won't even notice."

" _The date actually went well?"_ Kerry asked sounding a bit shocked.

"I'm assuming so," Alex said. "He's not in a bad mood. He was all smiley and even more chipper than he normally is, which is really weird, if you ask me."

" _Dude. I am not spending the night if he's like that ever again. Sounds creepy._ " Kerry chuckled. " _Anyway, it's worth a shot, tell him when he's all school boy crushing._ "

Alex sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. When's your date with Don again?"

" _This Saturday,_ " Kerry mumbled softly. " _We're heading to the museum to see the Deep Sea exhibit and the Ancient Greek one."  
_ "That sounds like it'll be interesting," Alex said. "Just try not to scare the little kiddies by making out."

" _Tch, we do have some decorum...well Donnie does."_ Kerry rolled her eyes. " _And we might just geek out and forget the other is there."_ she joked.

"I don't think either of you could possible forget about the other," Alex muttered. hopping off her bed. "Well, wish me luck as I go talk to my doom."

" _I'll come for your body in the morning, kay?"_ Kerry said.

"Oh thanks, that's greatly appreciated," she replied sarcastically as she left her bedroom. She hung up her phone and put it in her pocket as she made her way to the living room. She found that Marcus and Zack were sitting on the couch playing video games while Nathan was reading in the recliner. "Hey, where's Elliot?" she asked.

"He came in mumbling stuff and grinning before going to his room." Zack answered her.

"Uh, okay," Alex said, shaking her head. "Thanks," she turned down the other hallway to get to Ellie's room. She took a deep breath before knocking on his door. "Ellie?" she asked.

The door swung open and Alex was pulled into a hug. "Munchmallow!" he said spinning her around, now dressed in sweats and a t-shirt instead of his suit.

"Hi?" she gasped, trying to wiggle out of his hold. "Could you put me down, El? Can't breathe!"

"Sorry, I have the power of love flowing through me," Elliot said dramatically as she released her and collapsed onto his bed, arms flung out to his sides.

"Okay, well, that's good," she muttered, taking a seat next to him on the bed. _I think._ "I take it your date went well."

"I finally got her to not be so embarrassed!" Elliot grinned. "I got her to ramble on and on and it was adorable!"

"That's great, Ellie!" she told him. "I'm glad you two had a great time." She cleared her throat before saying, "And since you're in such a good mood because of love, I'd figured I'd share my news with you."

"The fuck did you do?" Elliot asked sitting up quickly. "Who's in the hospital?"

"Who's in the hospital? What the hell are you talking about?" Alex asked, getting distracted.

"You always wait till I'm in a good mood to tell me bad news or when you've gotten into trouble you need me to get you out of."

"No bad news. No trouble," Alex assured him. "It's good news, actually. For me, that is."

"Which means bad for me." Elliot sighed. "Lay it on me."

"Not really," she drew out. "It's, well, Raph and I are kind of, going out for real now. No faking."

"...Really?" Elliot blinked at her. "When did this happen?"

"T-Tonight," she told him. "At the hockey game."

"Gah, my good charity bites me in the ass," Elliot grumbled, thinking about when he handed over the tickets.

"Ellie," Alex sighed. "I mean, it's not that bad, right? We were _basically_ dating anyway."

"Yeah, it's just...I don't like any boy dating you." Elliot grumbled. "That's something I can't protect you from."

"You don't have to, El," she said. "You've gotta let me live my life. I have to make mistakes and fall in love and pay extremely high taxes and everything else that comes with growing up."

"I know, I know. And it's be hypocritical to tell you not to date someone who made you happy...and he's better than Fred."

"Oh, not with the Fred thing again!" Alex groaned. "Seriously, I had no romantic feelings for the guy _whatsoever_!"

"I know, but he did for you. And where is he now? Awol just because it got a _little_ harder for him," Elliot scoffed.

"Oh, be nice," she muttered.

"That _was_ the nice version," Elliot mumbled.

"Fine, fine," Alex said. "Just, promise me you won't go and beat up Raph again?"

"Nah, Kerry chewed me out last time along with you. You might get Esme to chew me out as well. I don't need three psycho women coming after me."

"Only three? Huh, and here I thought all of the world's population of psychotic women were out to get you," Alex joked.

"They are, but you three are my favorite."

"Aw, you're such a suck up, El," Alex laughed.

"Best in the business." Elliot pretend to sniff pridefully.

"Got that right, how else do you think you got that date with Esme?"

"I'm charming and sexy as hell, of course!" Elliot protested,

"Puh-lease! You really think Esme falls for that?" Alex said.

"Umm yes?" Elliot said not really knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I don't thinks so," Alex muttered, getting off the bed. "She has to see that you're actually a decent human being under all that cheesy crap."

"...Can't I still be sexy as hell?"

"I am so not the right person to ask that," Alex groaned. "That's, it, _ew_!"

"I am not ew!"

"You're my brother, of course you're ew!"

"I am not! Stop saying that lie!"

"Are too!"

"Munchkin!"

"Dick!"

"Buttmunch!"

"Asshole!"


	11. Unknown

Chapter 11

Unknown

One after another the trainees were lead into a large, open training hall. The room was rather simple. There were sparing mats on the ground while one wall was lined with cabinets. If someone were to look inside they would find various sparring weapons. The trainees were lined up along the wall with the door they had just entered in. There was one other people in the room, standing in the center looking at the new faces.

The man was a twenty-one year old brunette male with warm brown eyes and a playful smirk, despite the fact that he was wearing a mask and that smirk couldn't be seen. He was tall, ranging in the six foot area with large, but not overly so muscles. He stood there with his hands on his hips and his head tilted slightly to the side.

"All of you are here because you passed the first two tests to become a Guardian," George said to the trainees in front of him. "This last round of training and testing is the most difficult of the three. I won't lie, most of you won't make it, but those of you who will, will be welcomed in with open arms. You will have more responsibly than most people could ever even imagine, but with that great responsibility also comes great honor, knowledge and privilege.

"But you have to get through this first. My name's George. I'll be your instructors. Let me make myself very clear with all of you," George went on. "You are here for training to become a Guardian and I am here to train you. I am not here to be your babysitters. We are not here to be your friends.

"We will watch you, taking note of your skill, your progression, intelligence, devotion and honor. If we do not think that you possess these traits or acquire them as your training progresses, you will fail and be thrown out. If you don't follow our rules, you will be thrown out."

George wasn't someone to mess with, that was for sure. From how he was explaining all of this to them, they wouldn't be surprised if someone was kicked out simply because he didn't like them. They wouldn't be getting on the man's bad side; that much they knew.

"We group all of those things into one. We consider them to be the number one reason why trainees get sent home," George said. "The second would be that we are not superheroes! If any of you thought that in becoming a Guardian makes you some sort of super-hero; that it allows you to go out and save the world from villains, you are very wrong."

"You may think that you are being honorable by being a hero in the name of the Guardians, but you're just putting everything we stand for in danger. We are silent Guardians, here to protect those that need to stay in the shadows. We do not put ourselves out into the world to be seen and to make ourselves known. In doing that, we endanger not only our own lives, but every other Guardian and the ones we fight to protect. And I know none of you want to be responsible for causing hundreds of innocents to die.

"We do _not_ wear _costumes_ ; we wear respectable uniforms. The _same_ uniforms worn for _centuries_. If you disrespect this uniform, I will _personally_ see to it that I'm the one throwing you out. I will _not_ stand for anybody who _dishonors_ that Guardian name. I will make your life a living hell for the rest of your miserable little lives if you do. Do I make myself clear?"

The group called out in replied, informing him that they understood. "Good," he said. "Today we're just going to get to know one another. Teamwork is essential in becoming a Guardian, so today is just a team bonding day. Mingle! Get to know one another!" He clapped, moving away from the group. He left the room, leaving them to their own devices.

Alex sighed, running a hand through her hair. She knew that being a Guardian would be tough, especially after having gone through two rounds of tests already, but she hadn't figured it would be that hard. No wonder Elliott came back ten times stronger than he was when he left, and he had been strong _before_ that.

After her bullet graze had healed, Mortu arranged for her to be put thru the Guardians tests, which normally took several months. However, Mortu, knowing Alex's abilities already, put her on the the fast track. When normally took five months Alex completed in just over a month. It was exhausting to say the least. She still had her dojo duties. her tutoring, her work at April's _and_ school. She was just lucky nobody had noticed just how tired she was because of it. Most just assumed it was because she was still having trouble sleeping.

And she was, but not as much so anymore. She didn't get sick anymore. She had nightmares every night still, but she was able to go back to sleep after them now.

"Hey, isn't that Elliot's sister?" one of the boys to her left whispered to another guy.

"Yeah, it's gotta be," they answered. "I mean, I heard she was going to be here."

"Yeah, because he put her on the fast track."

"She probably not even very good."

"I mean, how old is she? Twelve?"

Alex sighed. and walked over to one of the walls. She slid down it and stretched. She knew that people talked about her. She heard what they said most of the time. She knew that since her situation was different than theirs, she'd cause some drama among the ranks of other trainees.

That didn't mean it was any less annoying.

They didn't know anything about her. They didn't know her abilities. They didn't know what she was really there. They didn't know who she was and that bugged the crap out of her. If they wanted to know the answers, why didn't they just ask? It was complete and utter bullshit. They needed to grow up and act like a Guardian instead of a tween in middle school.

"Excuse me," a soft voice next to Alex said.

She looked up to see a small guy, who had to be about eighteen or nineteen years old standing next to her. His hair was almost white and very long, pulled back into a low ponytail. At his waist were two swords. She had heard that there was a samurai in their mists instead of a ninja, but until that moment she had just assumed it was a rumor.

"Yes?" she asked the guy.

"May I sit with you?" he asked.

"Oh, please do," she insisted, motioning to the spot next to her. "We are supposed to be "bonding," after all."

"That is true," he said. "My name is Usagi."

"Alex," she introduced.

"Ah, Alexandra O'Neil, sister of Elliott O'Neil, high ranking Guardian official," Usagi muttered. "I see the rumors are true. It must be difficult living under the shadow of your brother. Especially one so large."

"It's not so bad," Alex said. "He, uh, actually doesn't know I'm here."

"Really?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah, Mortu talked to the instructors and we're kind of keeping it hush-hush," she said. "He wouldn't want me here, but it's not really his decision, is it? It's mine."

"That is a very valid point, Alexandra," he nodded.

"Oh, it's just Alex," she insisted.

"All right, if you wish," he said.

"So, why are you here, if you don't mind me asking," Alex said.

"No trouble," he said. "I was approach by Mortu as well," Usagi said. "He believes that the Guardians should not just consist of ninja, but other skilled individuals as well. There is nothing in the rule book saying samurai cannot participate."

Alex laughed, "I suppose there isn't. Well, I'm glad to have you here, Usagi. You're the only person to actually treat me decently."

"I am glad to assist?" he laughed.

"Oh, I can tell we're going to be good friend, Usagi. I can tell already."

* * *

Much like how nobody knew about Alex's secret training to become a Guardian, nobody knew that almost every Friday, Alex would stop in at the police station to see Detectives Blake and Longer, often bringing them cookies or pie, or sometimes even full meals like spaghetti or steak.

The two men appreciated the gesture, and in return, disclosed information on the case, though not enough to give everything away. Alex knew that several of the gang members that were in the group that attacked them were in custody, but they still didn't have the shooter. And most of the gang members weren't very willing to talk.


	12. Painful Past

Chapter 12

Painful Past

"Okay, spill!" Alex exclaimed as the two girls left the school to head to tutoring. "How was your date? I want to know everything!"

"It was okay," Kerry mumbled a bit. "I had fun, lots of fun." she shrugged a bit, looking away.

"Oh come on, Kerry! Don't leave me hanging out to dry! _Tell me_!" Alex yelled, grabbing her arm dramatically.

"Okay, okay! Now stop before my shoulder dislocated," Kerry growled pulling her arm away. "It was an all day thing, getting there right when the exhibits opened. And we just kind of...well talked a lot. Held hands, walked from exhibit to exhibit, debated the pros and cons of Grecian archeological development. And um we-" Kerry cut off.

"What? What?" Alex asked eagerly with wide eyes.

"The deep sea exhibit was interactive and stuff which was fun, but it got dark in there and he...well he used opportunity to his advantage, I guess. Kissed me and stuff." Kerry said. "Oh and Don almost punched a guy." Kerry said in a rush at the end. "Look light changed, let's go."

"He what?" Alex laughed, following after Kerry. "Wow, must have been something good to bug Don."

"He had asked what a girl like me was doing in a place like this, to say it politely." Kerry mumbled.

"Ouch," Alex muttered. "Well, then I suppose he has valid reasoning for it. Don is forgiven." She shrugged.

"Don was scary," Kerry corrected. "I've never seen him so...emotionless before. His face just went blank."

"Well, that's what happens when he's protective," Alex said. "It should get better as you two continue to go out. He'll see that you don't need as much protection as he wants to give." She adjusted her backpack over her shoulder.

"He wants to go ice skating next time." Kerry mumbled softly, a smile on her face.

"Cool," Alex said. "Ice skating is always fun. Plus, you can laugh at everybody that falls down."

"Yeah, not everyone is fortunate to have awesome ninja training," Kerry laughed.

"Ain't that the truth," Alex agreed. "But you had fun, right? You _want_ to go out again?"

"Other than being insulted and Don almost punching a guy? Yes. Is it bad I didn't want to go home?" Kerry sighed, a bit love sick now.

"Not at all," Alex told her. "Trust me. This is a good thing!"

"I don't know, I kind of want to swallow some pesticide to get rid of the damn butterflies." Kerry snorted.

"It gets easier," Alex told her. "You get more comfortable with it as you hang out more. It's less embarrassing to express and do stuff too. It'll get better, much better, I promise."

"So how are you and Raph doing after the confession?" Kerry asked quick to change subject.

"Fine, I guess," Alex muttered with a shrug. "Haven't really seen him since that night. But then again, it's only been, like, two days. The game was Friday night and it's only Monday."

"Looks like we both had an entertaining weekend." Kerry chuckled a bit as they approached the Hamato home.

"Entertaining is one word for it," Alex laughed, walking up the steps.

"You know what we should do?" Kerry asked her suddenly.

"What?" the redhead asked. She had absolutely no idea what Kerry was thinking about doing.

"Watch The Room," Kerry said smirking as she walked through the halls of the house.

"No!" Alex yelled as they entered the common area.

"Oh come on, it's hilarious!" Kerry laughed.

"No, it's a crappy movie that only _you_ find funny because it's so bad," Alex said. "It's not _supposed_ to be funny!"

"Which in turn makes it even more hilarious." Kerry grinned.

"No, I'm not doing it!" Alex huffed, plopping down on the couch.

"Oh come on! We'll do it at like 2 a.m. everythings more funny at 2 a.m" Kerry prompted.

"No, I'd rather be sleeping at two in the morning, thank you very much," Alex grumbled.

"Where is your sense of halari-" Kerry said then looked around. "Why have I not been tackled in a hug by Mikey?...Where are the guys?"

Alex looked around. She hadn't even noticed that nobody was in there as they entered. "Huh, beats me," she muttered, leaving her bag on the floor next to the couch as she got up. "Come on, let's go look."

Kerry put down her heavy bookbag and jacket before following after her. "This is freaky, I mean, they're _always_ waiting for us in that room. _Always."_

"Not always," Alex shrugged, leading Kerry down the hallway where the bedrooms were. They peaked in, finding nobody. Alex then turned down another hall where she knew they dojo was. "Once I came and nobody was here except for Raph, who happened to walk out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. Turned out they forgot to tell me tutoring was cancelled for Christmas shopping."

"Yeah, yeah that sounds like them,." Kerry chuckled a bit. "So... _only_ a towel?" she asked eyes flashing mischievously.

"Mhm," Alex hummed. "All wet from a shower. It was the _sexiest_ thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"Mine was when they guys found us on our run and had been playing basketball shirtless," Kerry mumbled a bit.

Alex laughed. "I would say that too, but the towel was extremely low and...yeah, I'm going to stop talking about this now."

"Yeah please? Raph is basically my brother, _ew_." Kerry shivered a bit. "Let's check the dojo- Oh Master Splinter," Kerry said as she rounded the corner and almost ran into the man. "Hello." she said and was quick to bow.

"Hello Kerry, Alexandra," Splinter said, bowing his head to them.

"Hello, Master Splinter," Alex said, bowing in return.

"My sons shall be with you momentarily," he told them. "They had an extra training session this afternoon. I apologize if this is of any inconvenience to you."

"Oh, that's no problem," Alex said. "We just got curious and went looking, is all."

"It was the perfect horror movie set up, couldn't resist." Kerry joked a bit, nervous around the man.

"You are welcome to meet them in the dojo, if you so wish," he said. "Please excuse me."

"Thank you, Master Splinter," Alex bowed.

"Thanks, Master Splinter, enjoy your stories." Kerry said bowing with a little wave. "God, he makes me nervous." Kerry mumbled to her friend once he was out of earshot.

"Why?" Alex asked as they entered the dojo. "It's not like he doesn't like you."

"I know, and I don't hate the guy. Quite the contrary, I love Master Splinter. But he makes me nervous! It's like he can see every little secret you've ever had, just by looking in your eyes." Kerry sighed.

"Okay, I see your point," Alex said. "Maybe I'm just good with the pressure?"  
"You don't normally have very much to hide though. You're an honest person, Alex." Kerry said seriously. "Me, not so much."

Alex gulped, thinking about how she had been hiding the whole Guardian thing from everybody for over a month already. "Right," she muttered, not catching the fact that Kerry said she wasn't an honest person.

"My girls!" Mikey yelled extremely weakly, laying flat on his back on the mats on the floor.

Mikey wasn't the only one on the ground either. Each Hamato boy was laying on the ground in various positions. They either looked tired or in pain, and in Mikey's case, both.

"What in the world...?" Kerry trailed of, blinking in shock at their poor state. She unzipped her boots before taking them off and stepping onto the mat.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Alex asked, following Kerry's lead. She left her shoes at the door before entering.

"It's damn Leo's fault," Raph grumbled, glaring at his brother who was laying next to him on his stomach.

"My fault?" Leo scoffed. "As I recall, it was your fault."

"Say that to my damn face, prick." Raph snapped back at him.

"Okay, easy," Alex sighed trying to keep the peace. She knelt down between the two. "Does somebody want to tell me what happened?"

"And can anyone feel their legs?" Kerry tacked on with a scoff crouching down to poke Mikey's back.

"Nope," Mikey answered Kerry.

"You should be able to feel them soon, Mikey," Don huffed, completely out of breath. "As should I, I think." Kerry bit her lip and gently patted both their sweaty backs, not wanting to cause any more pain for either one.

"It's both of thier fault!" Mikey accused woefully. "And Donnie and I are just victims of being good brothers!"

"What did you two do?" Alex sighed, helping Leo sit up. She gently rubbed his back as he groaned in pain from the movement. Raph gritted his teeth glaring at them both.

"Me and Raph kinda had a small disagreement," Leo answered softly, trying to downplay it obviously.

"Small disagreement?" Kerry asked crossing her arms slightly with a raised eyebrow.

"None of your disagreements are ever small," Alex muttered. She helped pull Leo to his feet, having to grab onto his arms to steady him from his wobbly knees. "Easy now," she muttered. She put his arm around her shoulders and lead him over to one of the benches. Normally the boys kept their water bottles on said bench.

Alex then turned, making her way over to Mikey to help him over to the bench as well. "What was this 'disagreement' about?"

Kerry eased Don up as well as he answered. "I-I don't even remember, but it ended with someone crashing through the door." He groaned slightly, almost tripping over his own foot. Kerry caught him easily. He blushed and smiled at her sheepishly. "Hi Kerry," he greeted.

"Hey Don, take it easy." Kerry said leading him over.

"I'm okay," he assured her. "But thanks for helping."

"My pleasure." Kerry said with a suggestive wink.

"Crash threw as in breaking the door?" Alex asked, turning to go and help Raph. As she touched him Raph shoved off her hands and got up on his own, though it was harder and more painful. She blinked, confused as to why he was acting that way. She'd have to ask him about it later.

"Yeah, tossed Losernardo over here through the dojo door," Raph glared at his elder brother.

" _Raph_ ," Alex sighed, moving to help him walk over. She grabbed his arm gently, but she was met with resistance. He pulled his arm out of her grasps and made the rest of the way to the bench on his own. Her stomach dropped and not in a good way. _Did I do something wrong?_ she thought. But what could she have done? She had only just gotten there. Unless...Unless he regretted telling her that he liked her.

"Anyway," Raph grumbled. "Sensei was not happy, but no one told him who did it and so he added on three more hours of training."

"Shit guys." Kerry huffed a bit going over to the small refrigerator in the corner to get them some ice packs.

"Well, nobody can ever say you guys don't stick together," Alex muttered, sitting down next to Mikey on the bench.

"Well, me and Don kinda owe them for not ratting us out on more than one occasion. Raph didn't want to get grounded because he wanted to go out on Saturday." Mikey said almost moaning as Kerry put the cold pack on the back of his neck.

"I guess we can call off tutoring for today," Alex sighed, making sure Mike kept the pack on. "You've gotta rest up so you can, you know, actually _move_ tomorrow."

"Thanks, Alex." Mikey mumbled leaning against her slightly. Kerry moved on to Leo and Raph, easing the ice packs on to the ideal places to cool them down.

"He really kicked your asses, huh?" Kerry mumbled as she place the last one on Donnie's neck. "As if I needed anymore of a reason to be nervous around him." she scoffed.

"Kerry," Alex sighed. "Seriously, you've got _nothing_ to worry about from Master Splinter."

"Yeah, he loves the two of you," Don told them.

"Plus, you're not his kid so he can't really punish you," Leo added.

"But still, he sees into my soul." Kerry grumbled a bit sitting down between the two boys and holding the ice packs in place so they didn't have to raise their arms too much.

"I'm surprise he doesn't see the demon then." Raph shot at her with a glare.

"And all he sees is a good person," Don told her, taking her hand.

Kerry blushed a bit. "Yeah," She mumbled quietly, though her voice wasn't convinced. "Anyway, how you boys feeling?" she quickly changed the subject.

"A little better now," Mikey muttered. "I think I'll be able to make it to my room on my own for a long, long nap." He slowly got up and started to hobble his way towards the door. "Wake me up next week."

"I'll bring you something to eat before I leave if you want." Kerry said to him as he passed. "Don't think Master would appreciate a kitchen raid at midnight."

"I can help you with that," Alex told her.

"I love having the two of you here," Mikey muttered before he was out of earshot. "It's like having sisters or a mom."

"I'm not that old." Kerry joked with a laugh.

"But you _are_ a mom," Alex giggled. "Gabriel, remember?"

"Yeah, but takes care of himself basically." Kerry chuckled.

"Okay, so since there's no tutoring, what are we going to do?" Alex asked. "Do you guys want to do something or should we go...?"

"You don't have to go," Raph said almost too softly for anyone but her to hear. Jealousy aside, he still wanted her there.

"So something relaxing? Movie?" Alex suggested.

Raph peeked at her before nodding slightly. "Sounds good," he said taking her hand in his.

The group slowly migrated to the living room to watch the movie. Kerry, once she knew Don was on the couch, went to the kitchen to make a snack while Alex set up the DVD player.

"The Room!" Kerry called back to her. "It should be on netflix!"

"We are not watching that movie!" Alex growled. "I'll leave if we do!"

"The Room?" Leo asked her oddly. "What's what?"

"A terrible, _terrible_ movie," Alex muttered, shaking her head. "Trust me, you don't want to watch it."

"It can't be that bad..." Leo trailed off when he saw the look she shot him. "...Really? That bad?"

"It _is_ that bad, why do you think Kerry likes it?" Alex said.

"I like it, ironically." Kerry said as she walked back in, her waitressing skills allowing her to carry multiple things without breaking a sweat. "It's so bad it's hilarious," she said setting everyone's drinks down before placing a bowl of popcorn in each of the boys laps.

"No, it's so bad that it's excruciatingly painful," Alex stared, loothing through the movies on the netflix screen.

"You're tearing me apart, Alex!" Kerry cried out dramatically.

"O-kay," Raph mumbled. "Kerry how much have you had to drink today?" he asked scoffing at the girl.

"Oh you know, just a couple bottles of Better Than You," Kerry shot back, avoiding an attempt to hit her, which only caused the red head more pain. She sat down on the couch next to Donatello, sticking her tongue out. Raph grumbled and attempted to lean forward to reach her.

"Easy," Alex told Raph, easing back onto the couch. "Take it easy," she insisted. The boy sighed resting his head on her shoulder and putting an arm around her possessively.

"Hey, uh, can I ask you something?" she asked Raph softly, only so he could really hear.

"Yeah?" Raph asked her just as quietly.

"Did I so something wrong?" she asked, referring to his attitude earlier.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I tried to help you earlier you kind of shrugged me off." she said.

"...You're my girlfriend. Not Leo's," Raph grumbled.

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Is _that_ what this is about? Because I helped your brother?"

"You're my girlfriend, not Leo's," Raph repeated.

"Honey," Alex chuckled, running her hand through his hair. "You have nothing to worry about. Trust me," she kissed his forehead. "I helped Leo because he was right there. I can't try and play favorites just because we're dating, you know. Even if I love you."

"I know, doesn't mean I have to like it," Raph grumbled to her, still pissed, but more so at himself instead of her. Leo's always been better...

"Think about this every time you start to get jealous," she whispered, moving to his ear. She bit the lobe before sucking on it, turning Raph's face red. "You're the only one that gets the perks."

"A-Alex, stop it," Raph huffed a bit, face burning a fiery red.

She nibbled on it again, chuckling darkly. "Then maybe you shouldn't get _jealous_ , Raphie Boy."

"W-what do you mean?" Raph asked her oddly.

"I have to reassure you that I'm yours, don't I?" she chuckled. "I mean, that's what you're worried about, isn't it? Well, sometimes I have to reassure you in a not so appropriate time. And you have to deal."

She was doing that intentionally. She knew that he didn't like doing things like that with the others around. It was a way to reassure him that she was all his, but also a form a punishment at the same time. After all, wasn't it slightly insulting to be doubted like that?

"O-okay, Alex I get it. Don't get jealous, just stop," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut.

Alex giggled and pulled away from Raph completely, making him have to sit up on his own. She didn't make him for long though, because she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and laid down. Raph laid down next to her, his head resting against her stomach. She put the blanket over him and the her lower half.

"...Thanks," Raph mumbled, finally relaxing his tense muscles.

Alex smiled down at him, smoothing out his hair. "Mhm," she hummed softly.

"Ahaha! Found it." Kerry said looking at the tv, hand clutching the remote she had snatched while Alex was distracted. The Room was selected and ready to be played.

"Kerry!" Alex groaned. "I swear, if you play that, I'm leaving!"

"Gee, see what you've done now? Now that a threat has been place, my rebellious attitude forces me to do exactly what you tell me not to." Kerry said as-matter-of factly.

Alex sighed, rolling out from under Raph and got up. She started to make her way to the door. She turned down the hall and grabbed her shoes from the dojo before walking back to the common area to put her shoes on and to grab her backpack.

"Alex, sit down before Raph rips off my leg!" Kerry cried using the remote to beat, said boys hand on her foot.

"Nope," Alex said, putting her left shoe on. "I'm not watching that horrible movie. You know how much I hate it."

"We won't watch it then!" Kerry groaned. "Just make him let go!"

Alex sat back down and took her shoe back off. "Thank _oof_ ," she muttered, laying back down before Raph roughly plopped back down on her stomach. "Easy there, Loverboy," she groaned, patting his hair.

"No one messes with my pillow." Raph grumbled as he let go of Kerry's foot, which the girl pulled closer to her.

"Jackass," Kerry shot at him.

"Bitch," Raph snapped.

"Can we stop being mean to one another now?" Don asked, pulling Kerry under his arm, covering himself and her with another blanket.

"Calm down you two," Alex sighed, playfully pulling a strand of Raph's hair as punishment.

"Fine, only because I'm comfortable now," Kerry huffed, head pressed against Donnie's chest lightly, not wanting to hurt his sore muscles.

"Ow, Alex cut it out." Raph said slapping her hand gently, before taking her hand and intertwining their fingers.

"Then stop being an ass," she scolded him.

"She started it," Raph complained as Kerry found a movie that would be unoffensive.

"And I'm ending it," Alex stated.

"Alex, they have the first season of Once Upon a Time," Kerry interrupted her.

"Watching it!" Alex instantly said, pointing at Kerry!

"What's that?" Leo asked.

"Doin' it!" Kerry said pressing play. "Our favorite show to watch together. It's about fairy-tail characters that are cursed into live in a town in our world, frozen until the savior comes and breaks it."

"We are _not_ watching that! It sounds so stupid." Raph snapped. "Totally girly."

"I'll make it worth your wild," Alex whispered teasingly to him.

"Alex, come on!" Raph groaned a bit at her continuous teasing. "Fine, whatever, I'll just nap though it, I guess."

"There are fight scenes in it." she told him, running her fingers through his no longer spiked hair. It had deflated during the training session.

"Girly fight scenes." Raph corrected her.

"More like sword fights," she told him.

"Whatever, just press play," Raph grumbled though his interest was slightly peaked.

"Hey Alex, if you could be any character who would you be?" Kerry asked Alex. "No matter the gender, mind you."

"Can I be a female Hook?" Alex asked. "That man is sexy as fuck. And he would make an incredibly sexy woman."

"Yes yes you can." Kerry laughed as Raph looked at her oddly.

"What?" Alex asked, noticing the look.

"You two are weird," Raph grumbled a bit. "Who are these people?"

"Oh, I wanna be Rumpelstiltskin or Regina." Kerry said.

"Good choice," Alex told her.

"I'd make a good villain." Kerry winked.

"You'd tempt people into the dark side," Alex said. "Don wouldn't be able to resist!"

"I'd rip out your heart any day." Kerry winked at the boy she was laying against.

"Again, who are these people?" Raph asked.

"You'll see," Alex said. "Though Hook doesn't come in until much later."

" _Shh_ , we're getting to the good part." Kerry mumbled as she watched Charming racing to wake up Snow White. "...their relationship is too perfect." she groaned.

"I know!" Alex agreed. "I mean, they're really cute together and I wouldn't want them to be with anybody else, but come on! Every relationship has their troubles."

"...But you have to admit they made a very pretty baby." Kerry muttered.

"That is very true," Alex agreed.

"Are we going to watch or do we have to listen to you two fangirl?" Leo asked glancing at them.

"Sorry," the two girls muttered, shutting their mouths.

Alex laid there watching the show, subconsciously running her fingers through Raph's hair, massaging his scalp. Raph sighed happily head resting against her stomach. Alex glanced down at Raph, a soft smile gracing her lips. She removed her hand and moved it to his shoulder, gently rubbing the tender, overworked muscles. He winced at first but then became butter in her hands almost falling asleep from being so relaxed.

As Alex did this, Raph slipped his hand under the hem of her loosely fit tee-shirt, gently placing his hand on the warm skin of her stomach, never moving any further than that. His thumb gently rubbed circles on her stomach, making her blush. His action was hit by the blanket covering them.

Kerry had shifted so her back was against Don's chest, careful of her hypersensitivity as she took his hand and massaged the calloused palm, working out the knots that had formed there from his lab work and bo staff. Don's attention was pulled from the show because of this. He stared at her hands working away at his own, a small blush dancing on his cheeks. Kerry however took no notice as her eyes remained glued to the tv, movements subconsciously smooth and gentle.

"Ouch." Kerry suddenly muttered, wincing a bit and looking away from the tv. "That's gotta hurt," she sighed sadly. The scene of Snow White watching Charming take her newborn baby from her, barely getting to say hello before goodbye was forced onto the family. It kinda hit home for her slightly, she wondered if her mother would have cared if she was taken away.

"I hate this part," Alex muttered. "Always have. It's so sad."

"Wait...so she doesn't go with Emma to our world?" Leo asks. "Who takes care of her?"

"You'll see," Alex told him. "That's all part of the show."

"But who goes with her?" Don asked again. "It only takes one."

"Exactly, it can only take one," Alex said. "So nobody _can_ go with Emma."

"But then who takes care of the kid?" Raph asked, surprisingly invested.

"Umm no one she," Kerry blinked as she realizing maybe this was a bad idea. "She's put into foster care."

Alex glanced over at Kerry, thinking the exact same thing. A silence filled the air, almost pliable with a knife as all three boys tensed. Alex glanced down at Raph, who suddenly clenched her side under her shirt where his hand had been rubbing circles into her skin only seconds before. She moved her hand up to his hair, smoothing the hair away from his forehead in an attempt to see his eyes. His green eyes an steeled into emerald metal. hard and unmoving.

Kerry gave a jump as she felt Donnie's nose brush against the curve of her neck, effectively hiding his face away, lips pressed in a straight line from what she could feel at the back of her shoulder. His fingers clenched around hers like a vice, as if scared to let her go. Even Leo seemed to be having a hard time keep his emotions in check, hands clenched in front of him, blue eyes focused on the ground.

"I-I'm sorry," Kerry mumbled, leave it to her to break the silence. "This was a bad idea," she said trying to free her hand from Don's so she could turn off the TV.

"...We were scared," Leo said out of the blue, "that we'd never be adopted, or worse; that we'd be separated."

"I'm so sorry," Alex muttered, her hand firmly on Raph's head, but not enough to hurt him. "We can watch something else, if you'd like. We don't want you guys to have to go through any bad memories."

"No, it's fine," Leo said. "I mean, you guys obviously are going to be around a lot. We can't tiptoe around it forever. We were orphans," he mumbled, though he looked worriedly at his two younger brothers. "You're going to find out about our pasts eventually, why not just do it now?"

"G-Guys, it's okay," Kerry's voice shook, she didn't want to watch any of them in pain. "I-I don't want anyone upset-" Kerry bemoaned in dismay. Oh she just had to find OUAT on netflix didn't she! Why did she never think ahead!? Stupid stupid stupid.

"Chill, hick." Raph mumbled finally saying something. "Like Leo said, your family now."

"And the past is the past," Alex said. "We're in the now. We don't have to go back if you don't want to," she told Raph, gently petting her head.

"But the past makes up who we are," Raph sighed. "Donnie...you don't have to say anything if you don't want," he said in concern for the youngest brother. His arms tightened around Alex, as if she were a teddy bear.

Don was silent for the longest time before weakly saying, "I-It's okay."

Kerry looked to him in worry. Green eyes darkening in worry as she nuzzled his head with hers, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'll go first," Leo said, wanting to give his brothers time to compose themselves. "Well...Mikey actually never knew his parents so he had it easier. His dad actually served as a Marine, being KIA on an important mission. His mom died giving birth to him so he went right into foster care. He was always told his dad was a hero, however, by the caregivers at the home."

"That's why he likes superheroes." Kerry said in realization. "He's thinking of his dad."

"Oh Mikey," Alex sighed.

"He adjusted well, I guess that's why he's so open to meeting and befriending new people, he did it a lot growing up," Leo sighed. "I came in next, I was about 5..." Leo trailed off. "My parents and I were coming back from a movie and it was raining really hard," Leo mumbled. "I remember looking out the window, the rain so thick I couldn't see the trees. Visibility was bad and so a truck didn't see us coming, T-boned . My parents were killed on impact. They didn't feel a thing."

"Leo, I'm so sorry," Alex said, her voice filled with strong emotions.

"It's okay Alex, like I said it was really quick." Leo said though his voice wavered. "I'm not saying it doesn't hurt, but I've accepted it over time. I love my mom and dad, even if I can't remember much about them."

"They loved you too Leo, who couldn't love you?" Kerry said reaching out and taking his hand, but was careful not to dislodge Donnie from his hiding spot.

"Thanks Kerry." Leo smiled at her before looking to his brothers, unsure who would speak first.

"I was around the same age as Leo," Raph spoke up first. "My dad wasn't really the greatest guy. I think my mom protected me from most of it but he would sometimes get really mad." Raph sighed, closing his eyes. Alex's arm tightened around Raph protectively, not wanting him to be in pain. "I remember sometimes getting thrown into the wall, or maybe slapped across the face. Then my mom suddenly packed up and left with me. She took me out of there and away from him. But as sweet as my mom was for doing that she had her own problems..." Raph cleared the lump in his throat. "S-She got involved with another guy, one she shouldn't have and he got her into trouble. Like 30 years to life in prison kind of trouble."

"Oh Raph." Kerry said looking at him. "I-I can't say how sorry I am about that having happened." Kerry said and if she said that she meant it. They all knew how she didn't like saying sorry for stuff like this, because she didn't see the good in it. She must really be at a loss for words.

Alex was silent. The arm that was wrapped around him shook as she tried to prevent herself from crying. She had to be strong for him. But she just couldn't take it. Imagining Raph in such a situation was too much. A small boy unable to defend himself again someone who was supposed to protect him, like her father. And his mother, a woman who tried her hardest being taken away from the boy, who needed her then most of all.

Surprisingly Raph sat up and hugged her tightly. "It's okay." He said speaking to both girls. "I'm happy where I am now, and if that hadn't happened I would have never gotten here."

Alex pulled him closer, completely forgetting that he was sore from training. She bit her lip, holding back a sob as she hid her face into his shoulder. _No, I should be the one comforting him, not the other way around. It wasn't me that it happened to! Suck it up, Alex. Be who Raph needs you to be now!_

"I don't want to say that I'm happy that happened to you," Alex said. "Because I'm not, but," she paused, trying to think of how to say it, "Raph, I…"

"I understand, you're happy to have met me, right?" Raph smirked slightly, looking at her with a gentle understanding look. "There's nothing wrong with that. I mean that's how me and my bros feel about it too."

Alex gently kissed his forehead. "I love you," she whispered. "And I just, I wish you didn't have to go through all that pain."

"I love you too." Raph said kissing her lips. "and I said I understood." He peeked at Donnie. "So how about we finish this girly show huh?" Raph said, still trying to protect Donatello.

"My dad died from cancer," Don blurted out so softly that they had almost missed it. "M-Mom kind of broke down after that. Started hurting herself." He pressed his face harder against Kerry's shoulder, trying to hide the tears that were falling. "I-I found her in the bathroom one night…." He shook his head, trying to compose himself. "But a six year old's hands can only do so much."

Kerry froze in his arms at the part of his mom hurting her self. "Oh my god." she whispered almost more quietly than he had. After he told her about having to stop the blood from slipping out of his mother she snapped out of it. She picked up his hand, lips pressing against his palm, turning her head so it rested against his. "Donnie, I'm so sorry." she mumbled against his hand, kissing it over and over again.

"I called 911," he continued, closing his eyes as Kerry kissed him. He continued telling his story between the kisses. "S-She was deemed unfit to…."

"Hey," Alex said softly. "It's okay, we understand the rest," she told him, allowing him to stop.

"I'm sorry Donnie, so so sorry." Kerry said voice sounding oddly panicked as she pressed his hand against her face, turning to her side so her other arm could wrap around him tightly. "So sorry."

"I just, I don't," he muttered. "I don't understand how…"

Alex looked at Raph, both of their eyes showing how worried they were for Donatello. "It's okay. Don," Alex told him. "Breathe, Honey. Just breathe."

"Donnie, hey," Kerry said slipping back to take his face in her hands and lift it up to look at her. She brought him out of hiding and smiled reassuringly, though sadness tinged it. "Baby, look at me," she coo'd gently, thumbs rubbing through his tears. "It's okay. We're right here. I'm right here. I'll never, ever leave." she swore to him, understanding just what was hurting him the most.

"Thanks," he muttered ever so softly. He glanced up, looking at Kerry straight in the eyes, almost directing that towards her more than anybody else in the room. He leaned his forehead against her, taking in a deep breath before kissing her lips ever so gently, as if making sure she was real and actually there with him.

"Thank you."


	13. Skating

Chapter 13

Skating

"Stop laughing Alex." Kerry hissed at her friend as they walked into the rink, the side of her jeans soaking wet from slipping and falling into a snowbank after Alex said something raunchy about her date, Donnie, and her. They were meeting both him and Raph for a double date.

"I can't help it!" she gasped. "Y-You're worse than me when it comes to getting embarrassed about this kind of stuff! I didn't think that was possible!"

"Shut up! Fucking snow! Down in Texas there would be no snow this time of year!" Kerry hissed as she marched into the ring. "And you and Raph are farther in your relationship than me and Donnie."

"So? You know how I was before Raph and I became the whole fating thing!" Alex pressed, making her way over to the rental area to get skates for Kerry. Alex had her own. "I don't think I was as embarrassed about this stuff as you are."

"I know, but my point is you've gotten used to it. I haven't." Kerry sighed as she unzipped her tall boots. "Affection isn't my thing."

"Don't dish what you can't take," Alex advised, putting on her skates much quicker than Kerry. She stepped onto the ice, standing next to the boards waiting for Kerry to finish up.

Kerry rolled her eyes as Alex rushed her along. She had ice skated before but they weren't as common in Texas so it wasn't often. She stood up a bit wobbly at first but then regained control and stepped onto the ice. "I can take it. the ice just tripped me." Kerry scoffed a bit.

"You said you wanted to come early and get used to it so you wouldn't make a fool of yourself in front of Don, right?" Alex asked skating backwards slightly to keep her eyes on Kerry, making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Y-Yeah. I mean, it's been years since I've skated. I know how but I'm out of practice." Kerry sighed sticking close to the wall for now.

"It's like riding a bike," Alex encouraged her. Alex practically grew up on the ice. It was her second home, her first being the dojo. Her mom had her in figure skating classes when she was younger, though she enjoyed playing hockey with her brothers far more than wearing those little leotards on ice.

"Yeah, only on small thin blades on slippery ice." Kerry chuckled but eventually and spun around as well.

"Told you," Alex sang, pulling away from Kerry to speed up. Kerry chuckled and spun around again lightly chasing after her, skirting in and out of people they passed.

"So," Kerry asked slowly. "Have you talked to any of the guys about...you know. The adoption incident." she prompted.

"No," Alex said, slowing down. "I-I didn't want to bring it up again. It was so freakin' intense."

"I..."Kerry sighed. "It's hard to imagine them going through that. I mean, who would have guessed with how happy they seem."

"I know," Alex said. "Then again, seeing me right now, could you guess that I witnessed my parents getting shot?"

"No," Kerry mumbled. "Or me and-...my issues." Kerry said in a rush at the end.

"So I guess nobody ever really knows what's going on with a person, past or present," Alex muttered, glancing sideways at Kerry, catching that little comment, but not willing to break the good mood to come.

"Yeah...they were so hot shirtless though," Kerry said changing topic once more.

"Oh God yes," Alex moaned, spinning around to start skating backwards again. "How did we end up with gods again?"

"Fate screwed up, let me tell you." Kerry sighed. "God the pectorals on Donnie." she shivered. "And his back? God!"

"I think I have a thing for hands," Alex admitted. "I play with Raph's far more than I should admit. They're just _so big!_ Imagine what he c-"

"I thought you rather me do it in real life, not in your dreams," Raph said as he skated up behind her. "Hey babe."

Alex gasped, her toe pick catching on the ice due to her losing her concentration. She fell flat on her back, causing her to slide about a foot, hitting her head off the boards. Alex groaned, rolling onto her knees, clenching her head.

"Pfft." Kerry laughed falling to her knees on the ice as she laughed. "Who's embarrassed and klutzy now, bitch!"

"Ow," Alex groaned again, slowly standing up with a hand on the board to steady herself. "Why the hell would you sneak up on someone ice skating?" Alex asked in a grumble, obviously embarrassed by falling and getting caught making such a comment. "Honestly, that's dumb, even for you!"

Raph put his hand under her arms and pulled her up. "Why the hell are you talking about me doing things to you with my big hands while ice skating?" he shot back at her.

"I wasn't going to say what you'd do! I was just stating that there was a lot that you _could_ do," she muttered, rubbing the sore spot. "With your...big...hands," she muttered, glancing away in embarrassment. Her face was obviously as red as her hair.

"Okay enough of this conversation please!" Kerry said quickly as she flung her arms around trying to find a safe way to get off her knees.

"Hey Kerry," Don greeted, skating over to the group slowly, not used to being on ice.

"Hey Donnie, good seeing you." Kerry grinned at him, still sitting on the ice. Damn her knees were freezing now.

"Would you get up?" Alex asked the girl. "You're going to freeze your ass off if you sit there!"

"...I don't know how." Kerry said slowly.

Don reached out to try and help her up, but when he pulled he lost his own balance and fell forward, practically on top of Kerry. "I am so sorry," he quickly apologized, his face bright red, just inches from Kerry's.

Kerry blinked up at him for a second, face red but then she giggled a bit. She leaned up pressing a kiss onto his lips. "Good to see you too Donnie." She winked a bit. "While this position is interesting, my ass is kinda freezing here, so lets pick this up later, kay?"

"I'm sure Don could fix that," Alex giggled, grabbing Raph's hand, pulling him away from the two slightly. "He can probably figure out how to get you up too." Once they were out of earshot, Alex looked at Raph and muttered, "Because God knows Kerry already knows how to get him up."

Raph slapped a hand over his mouth to hold in the loud burst of laughter from breaking free. "Good god, Alex, that is so wrong!" he snickered.

"You're laughing," she giggled, "So you can't find it all that bad. Otherwise you'd scold me."

"Which only proves how wrong it is." Raph corrected. "If I'm laughing at it."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we're together then," she said, skating ahead of him a couple feet. She turned around backwards again to look at him. "So nobody else really has to worry about the comments. We appreciate them for what they are."

"I guess so." He chuckled hands clutching hers as he skated forward effortlessly, planting a kiss on her lips.

Alex wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. She moved her lips with his easily, having been very used to how Raph moved against her. She sucked his bottom lip gently, asking for entrance for once, instead of forcing her way into his mouth like she normally did.

"Hey now, not while I'm driving." Raph joked against her lips but didn't deny her any more than that.

Alex whined softly, nuzzling her nose against his neck. "We could go somewhere a little more private," she suggested. She gently kissed the tender skin at the junction of his jaw and neck, sucking softly. "I don't think Don and Kerry would really notice."

"No, they're busy themselves, I suppose." Raph scoffed. "But we came here to skate, Alex." he chuckled a bit.

"Right now all I want to do is skate off with you," she muttered.

"That was incredibly cheesy." Raph chuckled a bit.

"Cheesy works," she muttered, biting his neck.

"Hey now, we can be arrested for PDA," Raph said with a roll of his eyes though his big hands rested pretty low on her back, rubbing circles into her skin.

"Only if you're the one with the handcuffs," she muttered, nuzzling his neck. "You know how I am with handcuffs."

"Goodness woman, did you take some hormone pills or something? You are in such a freaking mood," Raph scoffed.

Alex pouted, pulling herself away from Raph to spin. He was right, she was a little more...distracted than usual. "You have that effect on me," she sang, rushing off to get momentum to do a jump.

"Uh huh." Raph chuckled as he skated after her but giving her some distance for her jump. "Basically grew up on the ice huh?"

"Yeah," Alex answered, skating back over to Raph. She took his hand and skated alongside him. "Mom signed me up for figure skating when I was younger. Did it until I was thirteen."

"Why'd you stop?" He asked her.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. Wasn't exactly my thing," she said. "I liked hockey more, and martial arts even more."

"Because Hockey _is_ better," Raph said as if obvious.

"Of course it is," Alex agreed with him. By that time, Alex and Raph went around the rink, making their way to Kerry and Don, who had finally gotten to their feet. "Having fun yet?" Alex asked.

Kerry had her arm around Donnie's waist for extra balance for the boy. "We are, thank you very much, you ditcher," she accused.

"Well, I thought you guys would appreciate some alone time!" Alex laughed, slowing down to make it easier for the two to skate with her and Raph.

"Yeah, half of which was spent trying to get up off the ice, resulting in even more embarrassing positions." Kerry glared, though it was playful.

"Would you have wanted us to see said embarrassing positions? Hm, I think not," Alex muttered.

"You could have helped us and avoided said positions," Kerry argued. Here they go again.

"You would have pulled me down too!" Alex told her. "And I'm sorry, Kerry, but I don't love you like that."

"Puh-lease, that'd be the most action you've ever gotten," Kerry scoffed.

"Hey." Raph said, slightly offended. "Boyfriend is right here."

"I've still gotten more action than you," Alex retorted. She turned to Raph briefly and said, "You know, we never did finish that conversation we started at the hockey game, which you promised we'd continue."

"That might have been true if you helped me off the ice!" Kerry retorted.

"Which conversation?" Raph mumbled looking away.  
"You know very well which conversation, Loverboy," Alex told him, referring to the whole sex conversation they had had with Casey. She turned back to Kerry and said, "And so, in the end, I helped you get some action. I did you a favor."

"What about it?" Raph asked still playing dumb.

"I hate you so much right now," Kerry grumbled.

"Oh, you know you'd hug me to my grave," Alex scoffed. She turned to Raph and said, "You promised we'd continue it. So later we will."

"We are not friends anymore!" Kerry huffed, almost losing her balance from her animated hand talking.

"I...don't know what you're talking about." Raph whistled a bit. Alex just rolled her eyes and kept skating, dropping the subject for the moment.

"Kerry, be reasonable," Don told her, trying to catch her. He wobbled, but managed to keep both of them upright.

"Fuck reason." Kerry grumbled a bit, clinging to him a bit.

"Isn't Don the voice of reason?" Alex thought. "So doesn't that mean you have to f-"

"No friendship!" Kerry hissed.

"Can we still have lunch together though? I enjoy the conversation," Alex laughed, knowing she wasn't being serious.

"Oh what, yeah duh of course." Kerry blinked at her.

"You too make no sense when you argue," Raph grumbled.

"It's okay, you don't have to understand it," Alex laughed. She moved in close to peck his cheek.

"You two will be the death of us." Raph grumbled pulling her closer, spinning slightly with her, more graceful than a guy his size should be. Alex just giggled.

"Puh-lease, I'm the best thing to happen to you three," Kerry huffed.

"Yeah," Don muttered, tightening his hold on Kerry's hand.

Kerry blushed a bit, looking at him with wide eyes. She smiled after a while, bumping his hip playfully with hers. Don nearly fell over again, pulling Kerry with him, but since Alex was right next to him, she managed to catch him and keep the couple up right.

"You are so klutzy." Kerry chuckled a bit,as she helped Alex steady him, not wanting to make contact with the cold ice again. "I would have thought it'd be the other way around with you and Raph."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Well, it's all about distributing your weight, right? Raph has more muscle mass to organize over his surface area and- oh god Donnie what have you done to me!" Kerry gasped at the boy.

"Uh, I don't know?" he muttered.

"He's making you smarter!" Alex laughed.

"B-But where did that come from?" Kerry blinked, hand pressed against her lips as if someone had popped her one.

"You had to have heard it somewhere before," Don told her. "Sometimes you retain information without even realizing it."

"It'd be good for Jeopardy," Alex said.

"I never used to do that before, only with art and history," Kerry said in wonder. "Never with math or science. My attention is always elsewhere in those classes."

"You must have retained some of it, apparently," Don said.

"You're corrupting me," Kerry play glared at Donnie. "I thought I would be doing that to you."

"You are." Raph tacked on nonchalantly. "He has more of an attitude now."

Alex giggled. She also remembered several comments Raph had made about wishing he has his shower back. Don, apparently, spent quite a good deal of time in there. In fact Raph at the moment seemed to grumble under his breath about it.

"Hmm, that true?" Kerry mumbled. "I don't want Donnie to have an attitude, he needs to stay sweet. I love him being sweet." she pouted at the boy. "I'm the bad tempered one."

"Even if he has an attitude sometimes, that doesn't mean he's any less sweet," Alex said. "It just means he may stick up for himself more.

"Hmm, he could be a bit more _daring_ ," Kerry teased a bit, letting go of Donnie and skating away from him a bit.

"Kerry!" Don groaned, wobbling the instant she let go. "I can be daring, but not on ice!" Don's footing slipped out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his butt. "Ow," he moaned. "I think I bruised…"

Kerry put a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles as she skated back around him and then took his hands in hers. "I'm so-.."She had to stop to cover a laugh. "I'm so sorry Donnie." she breathed, fighting a giggle. "What exactly did you bruise, maybe I can kiss it better." She winked as she pulled him up, more successfully as he did with her earlier.

"Uh, t-that's okay," he muttered, his cheeks red. "I'd just settle for a regular kiss."

"Oh, you really are getting more forward," Kerry giggled pulling him closer before pecking him on the lips quickly, having to be careful to shift too much due to the height difference making it difficult.

Alex glanced at Raph, smiling softly. Operation Korny was almost complete. All that was left was to make sure they got the titles of boyfriend and girlfriend, which didn't seem like it was too far off. Raph gave a little smirk, winking at her a bit as he spun them around again, fast this time, and at a sharper angle.

Raph's skate got caught on one of Alex's in doing so, however, causing the two redhead to topple over onto the ice. Alex landed with her back on the ice, Raph sprawled on top of her, his elbow digging into her stomach. Alex gasped, trying to get air back into her lungs before groaning softly as he removed his elbow from her stomach. He had hit the exact spot where the bullet had grazed.

"Hmm, I so do love, karma," Kerry smirked as she and Donnie passed. "Don't you Donnie?"

"Shut up," Raph groaned as he shifted off of Alex. "Sorry, Firecracker."

Alex closed her eyes tightly as Raph helped her sit up. SHe held her side, trying to calm herself down. The pain in that exact spot caused her to have flashbacks of the night her parents died. _Breathe_ , she told herself. _Breathe, you're okay. You're not there. You're with Raph, Kerry and Don. Not the gangsters._

"Alex?" Raph mumbled, touching the side of her face. "Alex, hey, look at me." Raph said trying to see her. He kissed her cheek. "Come on."

"Lexi?" Kerry asked stopping to look back at her.

"I'm okay," She gasped. "Give..give me a minute."

Raph pulled her under his arm as she knelt next to her, taking her off the cold ice a bit. The warm contact slowly helped Alex snap out of it. The warmth was the opposite of that night. It had been so cold that night. "Thanks," she muttered, taking his hand as she got up with ease.

"You okay, Alex? Did you hit your head?" Donnie asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh, no," Alex muttered, tightening her hold on Raph's hand. "No, I'm okay. Don't worry about it."

"Of course we're going to worry about it," Raph said softly hugging her close. "We love you."

"Really," she muttered with a soft smile. She stayed in his embrace, resting her head against his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm okay now."

"...If you're sure." He said hesitantly as Kerry and Don still looked on in worry.

Alex pulled back and smiled up at him. "Really," she told him. "I'm okay now." She kissed his cheek softly, lingering with her lips on his skin for a moment before pulling back slowly. "Thank you."

Raph sighed a bit, head resting on the top of hers before he nodded. "Of course. You wanna take a break? We can all go grab something to eat. Give you some time to rest and save these klutzes from more bruising."

"Hey!" Kerry snapped.

Alex chuckled, wrapping her arm around his waist. "That sounds like a plan, Pumpkin."

"You're all assholes." Kerry grumbled, wanting to huff and skate away, but also not wanting to let Donnie fall again.

Alex steppe off the ice and went over to the bench where the lockers were with their shoes. She sat down and stared to remove her skates. "I was talking about the food," Alex told her with a laugh.

"Your still an asshole," Kerry grumbled a bit. "No one loves me." she huffed.

"T-That's not true," Don muttered. He paused in taking off his skates to take her hand softly.

"I-I was being silly and childish, Donnie." Kerry blushed darkly. "D-Don't worry about it," she mumbled to he obviously appeased her childish sulking.

Don bit his lip. He wanted to tell her just how much he cared about her, but it wasn't the right time nor the right place. He gave her hand a squeeze before going back to his skates.

Kerry was now quiet as she sat down to take off her skates, Donnie always knowing just the thing to say or do to re-set her so to say. Something Alex hasn't even completely figured out how to do. She was still looking for the off button.

"Okay, so what does everybody want to eat?" Alex asked. She stood up, stretching her ankles.

"I'm chill with anything." Kerry shrugged a bit, wincing as her ankles gave a slight throb of protest as she yanked the skate off her foot. "And I think I'm only slightly allergic to jalapenos." she joked with Alex.

"There's no such thing as only slightly allergic," Don laughed. "You're either allergic or not. So I'd say stay away from them."

"But salsa is so good," she chuckled with a fake pout.

"You can make it without it," Don said.

"Yeah, just use other spices to replicate the taste," Alex said. "We can always try it later, if you want."

"Two spicy girls making spicy salsa," Raph teased, poking Alex's side.

"More like hot girls," Don muttered, unaware that everybody could actually hear his comment.

"Uh, thanks," Alex muttered. "I think?" It was weird getting a compliment like that from Don. Kerry's face was bright red, and she hurried to cover the blush with her hands.

"I-I buts sa me." Kerry tried to speak, but only gibberish came out. "Its na."

"I think the hick finally snapped," Raph laughed.

"S-Shut up!" Kerry groaned, finally speaking through the lump in her throat. "You're more annoying than a rooster on sunday!" she swore, twang coming out.

Don chucked and took Kerry's hand, leading them out of the ice area. He always thought her little southern sayings were adorable. "So, where should we go? I don't know the restaurants in this area."

"Ahh, neither do I. But of course I only moved here a year ago...two weeks ago I think." Kerry said eyebrows scrunching up in thought.

 _Wait...Kerry wasn't here a year ago, was she?_ _She just came to school this year._ ALex looked at her oddly for a moment before letting it go. She'd ask her about it later. She didn't want to ruin the date by asking.

"Yeah. Yeah that's right. Anyway, Alex? Raph any clue?" Kery asked.

"Well, there's a chinese takeout place around here somewhere." Raph shrugged.

"Mm, I could go for some dumplings," she moaned, just from the thought of food.

"Are you actually going to eat this time?" Kerry chuckled.

"Kerry, it's almost time for dinner," Alex stated slowly.

"I know, but with how busy you've been, you've skipped meals. Don't think I haven't noticed!" Kerry said. "Honestly, you're supposed to be the responsible one. Keeping me from fighting large men who call me dwarf and eating jalapenos because I'm only a little allergic. If you get sick there is no telling the shit I will get myself into."

"Fighting large men?" Raph asked oddly. "The fuck...?"

"It's complicated, don't worry about it," she told Raph. "And it's fine, Kerry. I've been eating. Just at odd hours."

"You can really screw with your digestive systems like that," Don warned. "Not to mention your nutrient levels will vary because of it."

"You stomach won't absorb it as well or some shit," Kerry thought out loud, trying to remember her lessons.

"Okay, okay," Alex muttered. "I'll make more if an effort. Geez."

"Hey now, you spend all your timekeeping us three in line, so we work together to try and keep you in line too." Raph chuckled. "It takes three to keep _you_ in line," he pretended to grumble under his breath.

"Oh thanks," Alex muttered with a smirk. She playfully hit Raph's arm. Although, Alex couldn't help but think that she needed to hide the effects of the long hours she had with work, school and her Guardian training better.

Raph smirked bringing her in for a quick but rather wild type of kiss, feeling playful with her. "No problem, Firecracker."

Alex blinked, her cheeks tinted red. She looked away, slightly wishing she had some alone time with him. They hadn't really had any alone time since their date at the hockey game, and now that they were actually dating, she really wanted to spend some quality time with him. Which, of course, consisted of kissing among other things. The group arrived at the chinese place and got seated rather quickly, due to beating the crowds there.

"What are you guys going to get?" Alex asked. She only briefly looked at the menu, knowing what she wanted.

"Not really sure yet." Kerry shrugged. "You know how I get when ordering." Annoying...annoying is exactly how she gets. She always seemed to get almost a stage fright when it came to her to order.

"If you want, I can order it for you," Alex told her, knowing how she got.

"...please?" Kerry said shooting her a pitiful look almost as good as Mikey's.

"Yeah, it's no problem," Alex said. "What do you want?"

"Orange chicken is fine." Kerry said eyes looking away, oh come on she was talking to Alex!

"Okay," Alex said. "What about you guys?"

"I was thinking about getting chicken lo mein," Don said.

"Sweet and sour chicken." Raph said. "I always get it here, it's the best."

"I love sweet and sour chicken," Alex maned, her, head resting on Raph's shoulder dramatically. "I just love chinese food period."

"It's my favorite other than pizza, of course." Raph smirked at her, kissing the top of her head.

"Or maybe it's just food in general," Alex thought. "Sorry Raph, I think my first love is food."

"It's okay, we can both have an affair with it," Raph joked right back at her.

Alex giggled. She moved closer to his ear and whispered, "I could always break out the strawberries and whipped cream again."

"Oh kinky." Raph joked a bit. "Any chocolate on the menu?" he snickered.

"The darkest," she laughed, knowing it was his favorite.

"Perfect," he mumbled. "Sweet chocolate is nasty. The bitterness is better."

"Thank you," Kerry said high fiving him. "That makes you forgiven for being nasty at the dinner table."

"I like sweet though," Alex stated. "I mean, I like dark chocolate too, but I just love milk chocolate."

"Milk chocolate is the best," Don said agreeing with her. "Dark chocolate is _too_ bitter."

Alex high fived Don. The waitress came to take their orders before leaving the group alone again. "So, what do you want to do after dinner?" Alex asked. "Do something or go separate ways?"

"Separate ways," Kerry and Raph said together, almost identical inflections in tone, though Kerry was the only one with a slight pout.

"Separate ways as in couples go separate ways or as in everybody goes home?" Don asked, trying to clarify.

"Couples," Kerry said blushing slightly. "Wanna head back to my place or something?" she mumbled a bit, peeking at him. "I mean, not that you have to, of course. It's totally whatever I just mean if-" she started saying crossing her arms as she went into tsundere mode.

Don chuckled, taking her hand. "I'd love to," he told her.

"O-Oh...right umm okay. Great," Kerry mumbled looking down.

Raph rolled his eyes. "What do you want to do?" he asked Alex.

Alex shrugged. "You can come over to the apartment, if you want," she suggested. "Watch TV or... _something_." Alex smirked, implying that she'd rather do something else.

"Hmm, _something_ sounds interesting." Raph grinned at her. "Will anyone be joining us for _something_?"

"Nah," she muttered. "The boys are busy."

"Good, I'm looking forward to something." Raph chuckled.

"Do they think we're stupid and don't understand what they mean? Or just naive?" Kerry whispered to Donnie.

"Not stupid," Alex told them, glancing their way. "Just expecting you to ignore it."

"You're saying it right in front of us." Kerry said slowly. "We're not deaf."

"You sure? Donnie might be from the high pitch whine I hear coming from your mouth every time you open it." Raph glared.

"Okay, enough of that," Alex told him, placing her hand on his leg to shut him up.

"Hick." Raph shot one last time at the girl.

"Dick." Kerry retorted in their usual fashion.

"Guys," Don begged.

"He started it." Kerry pouted a bit, crossing her arms.

"And again, I'm ending it," Alex told them.

The waitress came back with their food and the group fell into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their meal.


	14. Scare

Chapter 14

Scare

"Raph, seriously, the guys aren't home," Alex insisted, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. He had asked her about seven times if she was sure that her brothers wouldn't be there. She took off her coat and hung it up on the coat rack next to the door.

The moment the door closed Raph had Alex by the hips. "Just making sure." he said quietly as he pushed her against the closet door in the hallway. "Gotta take precautions as a ninja," he hummed against her throat as he brought her in, kissing her neck.

Alex sighed in content. Her could feel all the blood rushing to her face, her pulse beating through her body. She knew this was coming, but she hadn't expected him to move that quickly. They had only just arrived, after all. "Somebody's eager," she sighed, her head tilting back to allow him more access to her neck.

"I had to restrain myself while we 'bonded' with Donnie and Kerry," Raph grumbled. "Admit it, you only agreed so you could bristle in pride knowing your plan to get them together was working," he growled, teeth scraping against her heartbeat.

Alex moaned softly. She wrapped her arms around Raph's neck, pulling him closer. "May-maybe," she muttered. "You being there might have had something to do with it too."

"I was there because you were, so that was the reason." Raph chuckled pressing his body up to hers so he could wrap his arms around her. He quickly lifted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist to carrying her to the couch as he kissed her neck.

"You're," Alex muttered, her voice sounding extremely out of breathe. She kicked her shoes off, letting them fall to the floor. "You're going to leave a mark," she finished.

"Look at all the fucks given about that." Raph scoffed a bit as he sat down, leaning against the couch so her body sprawled over him, hand going into her hair to pull at it.

Alex's face darkened as a rather loud moan escaped her from his action. She pulled away from him in order to kiss his lips, forcing her tongue into his mouth. There was no need for politeness. Especially when there was hair pulling involved. Her hands moved from around his neck and into his arm, scraping his scalp, but not enough to really hurt.

Raph gracefully allowed her to do so, free hand drifting up the back of her shirt to rest on her spine drifting his fingertips up before gripping her side, careful to avoid her scar. Raph seemed to be making actions like that (touching her stomach or sides under her shirt) a regular action now. And Alex honestly had to admit that it was an extremely enjoyable change.

Alex fought for dominance with her tongue, but Raph wasn't giving up so easily. His hands trailed up her spine, sending a shiver through her body. He was not above playing dirty apparently as he teased the back of her bra hook.

Alex bit his lip, pulling back ever so slightly as her back arched. Her stomach flipped, her body reacting to just the thought of him removing the piece of clothing even if her shirt was still on. "Not fair," she muttered, sticking her tongue into his mouth again, pressing it flat against his own.

Raph could only chuckle in response, of course, as he teased it again with one hand while pulling her hair as his tongue forced it's way passed hers. Alex allowed him to win that fight. He explored every little nook and cranny of her mouth before spelling his name with his tongue against her (though how she knew he had done so was a mystery to her).

Alex pulled back slightly, moving to his ear. She kissed his lobe before taking part of it in her mouth to suck on it.

"So was this the something you had in mind?" Raph chuckled a bit to her, catching his breath.

Alex moved down to his neck, trying to find his sweet spot. She chuckled, the vibration felt against his neck. "Something like that," she muttered against his skin before biting down on the soft skin where his jaw met his neck.

Raph gave a soft moan, hand coming out of her hair to grip her thigh tightly. "Good, I thought I might have just jumped the gun," he chuckled a bit, thumb rubbing the inside of her leg.

Alex let out a soft gasp at the touch. Again, she stomach flipped at anticipation of actions that would not take place that night. Her body, however, didn't know that. The action turned her on greatly. She could just imagine his large hand moving between her legs, his strong, large fingers moving...She moaned again, her mind wonder with that thought.

Raph grinned a bit, kissing her shoulder before beginning to mark her once more as his, tugging her shirt aside for it to be right on her collar bone. "I-" Alex huffed, out of breath. "I could make that easier for you," she told him.

Alex sat back slightly, her face the reddest it had ever been. She removed her hands from his hair and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, slowly, swiftly lifting her shirt up and over her head. She dropped it onto the cushion beside them. She looked at Raph, wondering if she had done the right thing. Was it too soon? Was it too forward? Technically, they had only been dating a week or so, but they had been kissing and practically making out since the moment they started this whole thing.

Raph moved from her collarbone further down, obviously not minding it one bit, biting at her more sensitive flesh normally hidden from him. Alex moaned loudly again, her back arching, moving closer to his mouth as she enjoyed his action. He sucked away in tandem with his tongue soothing away any discomfort the action might cause before a purplish bruise like mark had formed on the side of her breast.

"You," Alex stuttered, "you are so...lucky it isn't….bikini season yet." The marks would be hidden by her regular clothes. However, if it was the summer, the makes would be very visible when she had a bathing suit on.

"Do you think I would care if it was." he grinned biting the air in front of her lips teasingly.

"If you want to keep, uh, you're, you're face the way it is," she muttered. "Your...your turn."

"Really? That's your comeback." Raph scoffed. "Mikey can come up with one better." he rolled his eyes as she sat up nonchalantly and pulled his shirt over his head.

"I wouldn't mind," she muttered, her eyes scanning over his toned, chiseled chest. She put her hands on his shoulders, slowly running her fingers over his muscles. "Cockblock of a brother?" Alex got to his sex line. She ran her thumbs over the muscle line, watching Raph's reaction as she went on, "Elliott would mind. He'd bash your face in." She moved in, repeating her action as she kissed him. She bit his lip, pulling it back with her slightly as she said, " _Again_."

"Maybe it'd be worth it," he grinned pulling her closer by her belt loops, his muscles tensing under her hands, flexing unconsciously to her touch, a steel coil of power.

Alex kissed him again before she moved down to his neck, kissing and licking his exposed skin and she lowered herself further until she was at one of his pecks. Her hands massaged his sides as she kissed his nipple. She moved to suck on it next, her hands lower to his hips to massage there as well. Raph groaned under her, hand going to her hair as he forced himself not to grind into her, head arching back into the pillows.

Alex could feel his back, sides and hips clench. She glanced up, seeing that he was enjoying her action. She tilted her head slightly, wonder why he became so tense all of a sudden. She shrugged it off, sitting back up and wrapping her arms around his neck, her hands in his hair again. She kissed him forcefully and hard. Her eager, quick action and movement caused her to move forward, unintentionally grinding her hips against him. Her legs tightened, securing herself on top of him.

Raph gasped before letting out a low moan, trying to fight the instinct even more from grinding into her, his back arched a bit and his muscles flexed as they strained to fight his instinct.

Alex could feel him tense against her again. She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "A-Am I doing something wrong?" she asked, fearing she was making him uncomfortable somehow. "You're all stiff."

"Umm, yeah, just trying to not go too far here. So no, you're doing _everything_ right." Raph groaned. "Which is the problem."

Alex blushed, biting down on her lips. So she was doing it too well...She gulped. "W-Well, relax," she told him, kissing his neck. "Just...Just do what is natural. Don't worry about if it's going to far or not. If it is, I'll tell you." She pulled back, kissing his softly on the lips before adding, "Just go with your instincts."

"I-I'd rather it not get to the point where it's painful to stop, if you don't mind keeping that in your thoughts," Raph mumbled a bit.

"S-Sorry," she muttered, nuzzling her nose against his shoulder. "I've never, well, you know, done anything like this before."

"I'm not exactly experienced myself, Alex." Raph chuckled breathlessly. "So chill out, Firecracker."

Alex laughed softly, placing a gentle kiss to his neck before nuzzling the same spot. "I know this is cheesy and corny, but I'm glad it's with you, Raph."

"Me too, I don't know any other girl I'd want to do this with. You're my best friend." Raph smiled at her. "I know that doesn't sound romantic at all..."

Alex's stomach flipped. She remembered him telling her that on New Years Eve. "No, actually," she corrected. "It's an incredible turn on. Follow your own instructions there, Cowboy."

"I can't help being naturally sexy. Just part of the Hamato boy legacy." he grinned.

Alex rolled her eyes and laughed. "I suppose we'll have to make sure Gabriel stays in line then, won't we. Heaven forbid Kerry or Don know what to do with that," she joked, biting his ear again.

"Hmm, shouldn't you be more worried with what Donnie might be doing to Kerry?" Raph snickered a bit. "If that's what you're concerned about."

She chuckled in his ear. "It wouldn't be anything Kerry wouldn't like," she said. She started sucking on his earlobe again.

"Okay ew," Raph chuckled nuzzling into her hair.

"Let's not talk about them," Alex suggest, sitting back to look Raph in the eyes. Her green eyes seemed to have darked from their actions.

"I'm all for that." Raph grinned pulling her back in for a heated kiss.

" _Oh misty eye of the mountain below. Take careful watch of my brothers souls and should the sky be filled with fire and smoke keep watching over Durin's sons."_

"The hell is that?" Raph groaned a bit.

Alex pulled back, blinking for a moment as it took her a second to realize that was her phone. "You have got to be kidding me," she groaned. "It's Zack," she told Raph. "He has rotten timing."

"Well, hurry up and answer it so that he'll leave us alone." Raph grumbled a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes and chuckled. She leaned back and grabbed her phone off of the cushion next to her. Her phone had been in the pocket pouch on the front of her sweatshirt like shirt.

She picked it up and put it to her ear. Raph's hands lightly rubbed up and down her legs, slowly tracing shaped into them. "Yeah?" Alex answered to phone, slightly out of breathe. Raph grinned mischievously leaning up to bite at her ear for a bit before drifting down to her neck.

" _Alex?"_ Zack asked on the other line.

"Yes Zack," she muttered. "What is it? I'm in the middle of _something_." Raph moved even lower, suck on what little was exposed of her breast with her just in her bra. He was making it his mission to distract her, it seemed. That or to keep her in the mood until she was off the phone with her brother.

" _I've been trying to get ahold of Marcus, but I can't,"_ he told her.

"That's because he's at a party," Alex told him. "You know he can never hear his phone ring." _Much like how I wish I hadn't heard mine!_ Her head fell forward, resting on Raph's shoulder. She bit down slightly, trying not to moan while she was on the phone with her brother.

" _Well, I've gotta talk to him_!"

"Zack, calm down. He'll be home late." _Which is good for me and Raph, she thought._

" _But Alex-"_

Alex narrowed her eyes. Zack's voice sounded off. He was rambling and talking extremely quickly. Something was weird about this whole thing. "Zack, what's-"

" _Elliot's in the hospital,"_ he blurted out.

Alex froze. Elliot's in the hospital? Immediately her mind went to the worst. The last time she had been at a hospital was because she was in it and that was because she had been shot. Her parents had died and she had, by some chance, lucked out and was spared. But now Elliott was in the hospital and it was most likely because of the same reason. She had already lost her parents, she couldn't lose Elliott too.

Raph stopped when he saw the look on his face. "Alex?" he asked slowly.

"What?" she asked, sitting up straight. "What do you mean?"

" _T-There was a work accident or something,"_ Zack told her. " _Nathan's talking to the doctors. He's better with that stuff so I don't really know what's wrong. But he's going into surgery. "_

"When did this happen?" she asked. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to keep herself calm.

" _This evening,"_ Zack answered. " _Elliot's boss is here, but he's not telling us what happened. Said it's confidential or whatever. That's total bullshit if you ask me. He's our brother!"_

Alex got off Raph's lap and sat down next to him. She grabbed her shirt and quickly put it on, only removing the phone for a second. "Which hospital?" she asked.

" _The one you were at,"_ he informed her. " _I forgot what the name is."_

"That's okay, I know which one that is," she told him. Alex picked up her shoes and slipped them on quickly. "I'll be there as soon as I can," she told Zack. "Just keep trying Marcus. He'll notice eventually, okay?"

" _Y-Yeah, okay,"_ he said. " _Thanks."_

"Hey, don't worry about it," she told him. "I love you."

" _Love you too sis."_

Alex hung up the phone and stood up. "Alex? What is going on?" Raph asked her pulling his own shirt on and touching her shoulder.

Alex took in a shaky breath, trying to compose herself. "Uh, E-Elliot's in the hospital," she told him. Her throat was closing up. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes. Elliott had to be okay, right? He had to.

Raph looked at her seriously. "Let's go," he said taking her hand and pulling her to the door, trying to give her some strength to get through this.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She hoped this didn't ruin his night. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on. Her fingers shook as she tried to zip it up. She kept fumbling with the clasp at the bottom. "C-Could you drop me of?" she muttered

"Drop you off? I'm staying with you," Raph scoffed. "Now come on, let's go see your brothers."

"Y-You don't have to," she told him. It wasn't that she didn't want him there, it was more the fact that she was rambling. She was trying to keep her mind off of Elliott and his condition, so the simplest of things slipped out of her mouth. "I-I mean, you probably have something better to do, right?"

"No, I don't." Raph sighed and looked to her. "I'm going with you and that's final. you're going to need me." He said with a sharp tone. "Besides, if Zack called you...who do you think is next on his list and who is with her."

Alex sighed, frantically running a hand threw her hair. "He's gonna be okay, right?" she practically begged.

"Elliot's got this," Raph assured her. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"Raph," Alex cried, the tears finally spilling over her eyes and down her cheeks. "I can't...I can't lose him too."

"And you won't." Raph said pulling her under his arm as he walked her down the stairs. "I'll make sure of it in any way I can."


	15. Breathe

Chapter 15

Breathe

"I'm telling you Donnie," Kerry said. "It's not that I hate Master Splinter, I love him but it's like he see's into my soul or something." She sighed, pressing close to his side. She was currently situated under his arm, back pressed against his side as they sat on the couch, the history channel as background noise. On her lap sat multiple colored markers and note cards, ready to be written out in abridged information that might just save her ass.

"No, I understand," Don told her. "How do you think none of us can get away with lying?"

"Please Donnie, how much trouble can _you_ of all people get into?" Kerry asked raising a slight eyebrow. "Mikey and Raph I get, but you and even more shockingly Leo? No way in hell."

Don was almost offended that she didn't think he had the guts to get in trouble. "We get in trouble more than you think," he muttered, running a hand threw his hair. " I mean, I got in trouble a couple weeks ago because he said I was using up too mu-" he abruptly cut himself off, clearing his throat with bright red cheeks. "Nevermind. Forget I said that."

"Too much...?" Kerry asked tilting her head back to rest on his collarbone, looking at him upside down. "Come on, you know you can't do that to me!" she whined to him, nose scrunching in frustration.

Don shook his head. He was incredibly embarrassed that he had even started to bring it up. What was with this girl and bringing out such a honest and forward side of him?"N-Nothing. Really."

"Fine, you spoil sport." Kerry huffed. "Probably was something lame anyway." she teased him, not really meaning it. "One time I was grounded for an entire month for setting a girls hair on fire,"

"I-I'm not lame…." Don muttered, trailing off, almost as if he was stuck on that one thought.

Kerry looked over at him and frowned. "I didn't say you were, Donnie. Responsible is the right word for it," she said. "I mean, I wouldn't want you to be like me or Raph, or even Mikey. It'd be too dangerous for us to mix," she chuckled a bit. "So be happy about it. You the most amazing person I've ever met. "

Don smiled softly, pulling her a little closer with the arm that was wrapped around her. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met too," he told her softly.

"Hmm, I don't know. Alex is pretty cool." she chuckled a bit. "I mean, she's a way better ninja and is super smart." she winked.

"But she's not as daring or funny," Don told her.

Kerry groaned a bit, falling back across his lap, she pouted at him. "You spoil me, you know that?" she asked before blushing. "I-I wouldn't mind it if...you scolded me every once in a while, you know..." she mumbled quietly, green eyes shifting away to the tv, pink dusting across her darkly colored cheeks.

"S-Scold?" he muttered, his cheeks darkening. "W-What do you mean?"

"W-what I mean is," Kerry explained slightly. "I know how I can be. I can be loud, stubborn, and childish. Don't argue Donnie, you know I'm right." she interrupted the words about to escape his lips in protest. "I-I'm saying I wouldn't mind it if you reined me in, be honest and tell me what's up," she mumbled. "I wouldn't mind correction if it was you doing it. You already make me a better person to begin with."

"You're already a good person, Kerry," he told her, running his fingers threw her hair. "And those things make you you. They're some of the things I love most about you."

Kerry blushed darkly, green eyes blinking up at him before she looked away stubbornly. "W-Well, I'll find a way to make you mad at me one of these days!" she said, not going to let his sweet words win the debate, no matter how they sent her heart rocketing in her chest and a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. Where's the damn pesticide...

"Maybe so," Don muttered, "but then again everybody gets on your nerves at some point, right? I mean, Alex and Raph have to get on each others nerves every once in a while, right?"

"More like go at eachothers throats," Kerry giggled slightly, hand playing with the necklace around his neck, that rested on his strong chest.

Don chucked, the vibration moving threw Kerry. "That's true. How do they managed to be perfect for each other yet be the worst at the same time?"

"...really good make up sex?" Kerry chuckled a bit in a joking manner.

Don blushed, but chuckled. "That's funny," he told her. "Do…" he gulped. "Do you think that they've…That they're..."

"Huh? U-Uh, no. I don't think so." Kerry shrugged. "I mean, I think they want to but they're also wanting to wait a little bit, you know? They only started dating a little after we did, technically. "

"Maybe, but they've practically been dating emotionally, and almost physically since they started the whole scheme," Don said.

"Yeah but also...Alex's parents just dying might affect her ability to really have a physical relationship for a while. Emotional events like that make any intense physical stimuli even good ones like sex, a stressor." Kerry mumbled. "Trust me on that."

"W-Well, hasn't she been doing better?" Don asked.

"...Did you not see the small girl on the ice? She had a flashback when Raph fell on her." Kerry sighed a bit. "She didn't want to ruin our date though."

"I mean, she was much better than she used to be, right?" Don said. "And it wouldn't have ruined it. She's our friend, practically our sister. We just want her to be okay."

"I suppose." Kerry sighed. "And I totally agree." Kerry nodded with him and silence grew between them, comfortable at first. Then, "Hey Donnie?" Kerry asked him trying to get him to look back down at her.

"Yeah?" he asked, glancing down at her. As he looked down a black marker scraped across his jaw line and Kerry smiled up at him mischievously.

"Hi Donnie," Kerry grinned bigger. "You look lovely."

Don scoffed. "Really? Well then it'd look even better on you!" Don reached out, taking her purple marker and marked her nose. Kerry squealed and tried to roll of his lap and escape though his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in as she was forced to hold in her giggles. Her face pressed against his neck as she tried to escape the evil marker nearing her face.

He drew a little smiley face and then a heart on her cheek. He chuckled before putting the pen back down, a small blush forming on his face due to her action of moving closer to him. Kerry caught her breath as she looked at his face. "D-Donnie?" she asked after a while. "Kiss me...please?" she begged him after a moment, peeking up at him shyly.

"A-As you wish," he muttered, moving in slowly. His soft lips gently met Kerry's, putting slight pressure on them. The kiss was sweet, much like him. Kerry blushed before shifting around to face him, putting more pressure into the kiss, hands reaching up to cup his face gently as she tilted her head to give her more access to him.

Don put his hands on her hips, away from her back. He pulled her closer, if that was even possible. He grazed his tongue against her bottom lip, politely asking for entrance into her mouth to explore. Kerry allowed him inside as she shifted into his lap, hands drifting into his hair, pulling it out of the pony tail. Her fingers tingled in almost painful pleasure from her roaring blood.

Don's tongue moved past her lips, meeting her own. His action seemed hesitant, unsure if he was doing it right or if Kerry was comfortable with it. Kerry felt his hesitance and pulled back slightly.

"R-Relax," Kerry said softly. "It's just me, you don't have to ever be uncomfortable with me," she softly promised him. "Ever." she repeated.

Don nuzzled her nose with his own. "I-I know," he muttered, sounding out of breathe. "I'm always comfortable being with you."

Kerry grinned as she pulled him into a searing kiss, her confidence overwhelming his own as her tongue didn't ask permission and took it instead, pressing her tongue against his softly however. Don gave a soft, eager moan as he pressed closer. One of his hands moved from her waist into her hair, keeping her as close to him as he could possibly get her.

Don moved his tongue against her, flicking it playfully, teasing her almost. He was daring her to play a game, almost. Kerry's eyes almost opened in shock as he did but soon her stubborn nature came in as she flicked his own tongue back before skirting away, retreating.

Don smirked against her lips, as if having just taken the queen in a chess game. He shifted, putting both of his hands on her hips to move her onto her back on the couch. He held himself over her, kissing her still. Kerry made a slight noise of shock as she soon found herself on her back, groaning a bit at the feeling of his hands clutching her hips tightly. One of her own hands drifted down, fingers hooking his belt loops as her thumb grazed the exposed skin right above the hem, under his shirt. Her other hand still occupied his hair, pulling him closer as he grew more comfortable in the kiss.

Don hummed into the kiss, feeling her hands against his bare skin. He pulled back, moving to her cheek. He left a trail of kisses from her cheek down to her neck, where he desperately searched to discover her sweet spot.

"H-Holy shit," Kerry groaned. "When you relax you _really_ relax." she mumbled her voice going higher pitched as he reached a spot on her neck that caused her back to arch, a moan escaping her lips. "I-I did not expect this." she huffed, shifting around as the tingles down her spine increased. "N-Not unhappy though-oh~!"

"All I want is to make you happy," he said against her neck.

"Y-You're doing a gre-eheh-at job." Kerry groaned. "B-But I can't just l-let you do all the work. I-I mean I want y-you to be happy t-too."

"H-Hearing you make that noise makes me happy," he muttered. Kerry gave a slight groan as she deepened the kiss once more, but before it could go much further than that her phone started to buzz on the table. She groaned as she pulled away to glare at the thing. "Ignore it." she grumbled and went to kiss him again, childishly sulking almost.

"A-Are you sure?" he asked between kisses. "W-Wa-ah-at if it's im-important?"

" B-B-But..." Kerry pouted but stopped when he gave a her a soft reprimanding look. "Fine." She groaned. "But we will continue this." Kerry grumbled as she glared at him, reaching to take her phone from the table, other hand occupying itself in his hair, combing it back from his forehead.

"I'm looking forward to it," he told her with a smirk.

"Hello?" She asked shortly wanting to hurry this up.

" _Kerry?"_ Zack asked on the other line.

"Zack?" Kerry asked confused at why he'd be calling at, she checked the time, 9:18 at night. Dang it was that late? "What's up, hon?" she asked him

" _E-Elliot's in the hospital,"_ he told her straight out. " _A-Alex is already on her way. I thought I'd call you and let you know, since, you know, you're a part of the family."_

"H-He's what?" Kerry asked, green eyes going wide. "W-What happened? Is he okay?" she asked sitting up, sliding out from under Donatello a bit as he remained hovered over her.

" _There was a work accident or something,"_ he told her. " _He's in survergy right now."_

"I'm coming over right now," Kerry said her voice wavering a bit as she looked around the room for her shoes, where the hell did she toss them?! "J-Just keep me updated."

" _Of course,"_ he told her. " _Thanks."_

Kerry didn't even say bye as she hung up in her rush. "D-Donnie I'm so so sorry but, I-I have to go. I-I have to t-to," Kerry choked out tears finally welling in her eyes. "O-oh my god." she shuttered.

"Hey," Don said. "What's wrong? What's going on?" He took her face in his hands, wiping the tears that managed to slip out of her eyes away.

"It's Elliot," Kerry said, biting her lip. "He got hurt at work or something and he's in surgery, Alex and I assume Raph are on their way and and...oh god I didn't even get which hospital he's at!" She bemoaned to herself, tears falling faster. "I-I have to be there!"

"It's okay," he told her, pulling her into his arms. "Let me call Raph and I can get that for you. Then we can head over there together. How does that sound?"

Kerry sniffed as she looked at him, rubbing her eyes a bit before nodding slightly, his purple marks on her face smeared a bit. "O-Okay." she mumbled a bit. "H-Hurrry please?" she asked him, not even trying to hide her accent anymore.

"Of course," he told her. "Why don't you get cleaned up while I call?"

"O-okay." Kerry said once more to go wash her face, but before she did she kiss his lips lightly. "T-Thank you Donnie." she mumbled before rushing to get ready. Please...please not again! She began to shake as she turned on the tap, scrubbing her face free of makeup and makings, though she couldn't get the marker completely off without taking a shower so she just left it.

While she finished, her eyes caught a familiar white box. Her breath quickened a bit, almost hyperventilating as she picked it up, cradling it into her hand. She shook as she opened the lid and watched the light glint off the objects in side. J-Just a little she just needed to breath...

As she reached for it she heard Donnie call for her, saying he got the hospital name. She closed the lid shamefully and almost throw it away from her, back onto the counter, contents rattling inside. She stared for a moment before looking away and rushing out the door. She'd breathe another day.


	16. Having Words

Chapter 16

Having Words

The moment Alex got to the hospital, she bolted it threw the hallways, getting scolded by several members of the faculty, until she made it to the waiting room. She found Zack hunched over in one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs while Nathan paced back and forth. In the corner of the room was Mortu, who looked completely out of place in the room. Alex narrowed her eyes at the man for a moment before going to her brothers, hugging them both.

"Okay, so how is he doing? What's his condition?" she asked Nathan, whom Zack had said had talked to the doctors.

"He was in bad condition, but they're hopeful. The surgery was fast and it's already done. He's in recovery right now, waiting to go up to the ICU," Nathan told her.

"Oh thank God," she sighed in relief.

"The docs way he'll be out for a couple hours because of the pain meds, but we might be able to go in once he's in the ICU to sit with him. They normally only let three people at a time for about thirty minutes, but I think they said they'd make an exception," Nathan continue. "Mr. Mortue spoke to them about it."

Alex resisted the urge to scoff. _Mortu spoke to them? Right, he's the reason he's in the hospital in the first place,_ she thought. Alex glanced at Mortu. She nodded to her brothers and walked over to her boss. "Can I talk to you outside for a moment, Sir?" she asked, trying to keep her volume down, her tone even.

"Of course," he told her with a nod. He stood up and followed her out of the waiting room and into the rather empty hallway. "What it it, dear?"

"What was he doing?" she demanded. "What was he doing for the Guardians when he was hurt?"

"You know I can't discuss that with you, Alexandra," he told her.

 _Can't tell me? Can't_ tell _me? What the fuck! This is my brother!_

"You're still in training, and your brother's missions are strictly classi-"

" _Bullshit_!" she yelled, her fist punching the sterile white washed wall next to her. SHe left a hole in the plaster, surprising not only Mortu but herself as well by her outburst.

She hushed her voice more as she continued in a harsh whisper; "You brought me into this because you know I could do it. Because I can fight. Because I'm like my brother, the brother that's in the hospital because of you! So you better tell me what the _fuck_ my brother was doing, Sir, or I'm out, and I'll tell my brother you tried to recruit me. And I _know_ you don't want that."

Mortu sighed, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes. "All right," he told her. "I knew you would be a handfull, but that's exactly why you're perfect for this job. You're strong willed and you have a good heart." He put his glasses back on. "You're brother was on a reconnaissance mission, gathering intel on the Shredder. I believe he was discovered and attacked. He was greatly outnumbered."

"Do…" Alex thought, trying to find the right words. "Do they know his identity? That he has family? Could they try and attack the rest of us? The guys?"

"I don't believe so, but I cannot know for certain until I debrief your brother," he informed her.

"Alright," she sighed. "Thank you, and I'm sorry for my reaction. That was out of line."

"No, it is perfectly understandable," he told her. "And I am sorry, Alexandra. That is the truth." He patted her arm before returning to the waiting room to take his previous seat.

They barely had time to register the fast running footsteps approaching the door before it slammed open, almost denting the wooden wall it hit, just about swinging back closed from the leftover force. Kerry's boot shot out to stop it as she stepped in, breathless, make-upless, and out of her mind. Her tears had dried on her cheeks on the drive over and had been replaced with fury. The only evidence there had been tears where her red eyes, swollen cheeks (which weirdly had the slight outline of a smiley face and a heart), and her hiccupping.

"I-Is he...?"Kerry panted as other running footsteps approached from behind. "Elliot, i-is he..?" her eyes scanned around before she spotted Alex. She rushed forward and her arms wrapped around her.

"He's out of surgery," Alex told her, hugging her back. "They said he should be okay."

"Thank God," Kerry breathed a bit as she calmed down a bit more and the two boys entered into the room, shooting a glance at the poorly treated door. "What the hell happened?" she asked her.

"Work accident," Alex told her.

"W-Work accident..."Kerry asked pulling back to blink before her dark green eyes turned to Mortu...oh no. "What the ever flying fuck do you think-" Kerry threaten to take a step towards him, hands clenching.

"Kerry," Don said, trying to hush the girl. "We're in a hospital. You need to be quieter and calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down, Donnie?" Kerry asked him, though her voice did quiet down. "Elliot's under the knife and this ass won't tell me what happened to my brother!" Kerry said glaring at Mortu.

"Kerry, it was an _accident_ ," Alex told her.

"Yeah, one he conveniently can't tell us about." Kerry grumbled gritting her teeth. She looked away, knowing she needed to calm down.

Alex shifted uncomfortably on her heels. She knew what happened, but she obviously couldn't tell her brothers, her boyfriend, Kerry or Don. It hurt, but she knew she was going to have to lie to them eventually. Now just happened to really be the first time she had to.

Raph looked at her oddly as he walked over to her, seeing her look but didn't question it. He probably thought she was uncomfortable with Kerry's temper. He touched her face gently kissing her forehead.

"...found Kerry." he joked softly, trying to cheer her up.

"It doesn't sit right with me, okay?" Kerry said crossing her arms, as if trying to hold her self together. "It's too weird. I have a gut feeling about it."

" _Kerry! Shut up_!" she took in a deep breathe to try and calm herself down. "It was an accident Kerry. Just drop it, okay?" she begged.

Kerry blinked at her before narrowing her eyes. "Drop it? You want me to _drop it?_ "

"Yes I want you to fucking drop it!" Alex yelled again. "This is my brother! We don't need someone going around saying what's true isn't. We need to just be here for Elliott! Is that so much to fucking ask of you?"

"Alex," Raph said slowly, kind of shocked to having to be the one to calm someone down.

"I'm not going around anywhere saying anything. I'm speaking to you!" Kerry said lowly. This was scarier than her yelling, Kerry yelled all the time, she was loud. This quiet, subtle anger was something new to their friendship. "I am here for Elliot, I thought I would be able to to talk to you about the concerns I have! I'm fucking scared okay? What if this happens again huh? I'm so fucking sorry, Alex for being proactive and trying to see if there is a way to keep our-... _your_ brother out from under the knife!" she hissed to her whirling away from her, teeth grinding in irritation.

"Nobody asked you to!" Alex told the girl, her voice lowering as well. "This is my family, Kerry. _Not_ yours."

One could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed those words, no one moved, no one even breathed. Kerry was frozen in place, her back to Alex.

The moment the words left her mouth, Alex knew what she had said was wrong. She knew it wasn't true and that Kerry was just as upset about all this. She sighed and went to open her mouth to apologize.

"What in the world is going on in here?" A soft voice asked at the door.

At the end of the hallway stood a small familiar figure. Esme looked at the four teenagers, Jax was laying on the floor beside her, his ears down, tail between his legs.

"I-I got a call that Kerry was here," Esme said, having been listed as a guardian of sorts over Kerry. "Alex? Boys?" she asked slowly looking over them slowly. "What are..." she took a head count and saw who was missing. "Marcus? ...E-Elliot?" she asked fearfully.

Alex looked down at the floor. She didn't want to tell the woman that the man she had gone on a date with was in the hospital. "E-Elliott was in an accident," she informed with with difficulty.

"O-oh."Esme swallowed and Jax sat up quickly, whining a bit as he picked up on her invisible stress signals. "W-What kind of accident? ...A car?" she asked softly, trying to force herself to be professional, for the boys and her.

"Uh, work, actually," she added. "They're moving him to the ICU soon."

"I'm so sorry," Esme said, seeming calmer now for some reason, coming closer peering between her, Kerry, Nathan, and Zack. "I'm sure he'll be fine." she said evaluating everyone with intelligent eyes. She determined Alex did not want to be touched by her, Nathan was stable enough to calm himself, Kerry just might rip her arm off if she tried hugging her now, so she ended up going to Zack and taking his hand. "You're brother is the strongest man I've met in a long time. He's too stubborn to be beat as well." Esme smiled at Zack, though her word projected to everyone.

"The doctors said he should make a full recovery," Nathan told Esme, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Thank goodness," Esme said softly mostly to herself now. "That's good," she said louder standing up. "I have clearance on the ICU level...I can go check on him if you want." she said to them. Knowing that was what they would want now, information.

"He's still in recovery right now," Nathan said. "They said they're going to call down to us when they get him settled in, but thank you."

"That's a good sign," Esme breathed out. "If he's not isolated for now, the surgery must have gone on without a hitch then." She was trying to give them as much information as she could to assure them.

"I'm getting some air." Kerry mumbled. "Text me when he's moved." she said before heading to the door she abused and slipping out, not even bothering to look at any of them.

"Don?" ALex asked without looking at the brunet.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"You should go check on Kerry," Alex told him.

"O-Okay," he said, slowing moving away from the group. Before he left, however, he gave a look at Raph.

Raph nodded to him, waving him on in a 'I got this' motion. After his brother left, the red head touched his girlfriends shoulder. "Just let Don talk her down, he's good at that," Raph said to her. "She just needs some cool down time."

"I shouldn't have said what I did," Alex muttered, making her way to the hallway again. She leaned against the wall, right next to where she had punched the hole. "I'm such a bitch."

He was right on her heels. Raph peered at the hole before sighing. "Alex, people say things in the heat of the moment, I mean look who you're talking too." Raph sighed. "You are not a bitch."

"Yes I am," she sighed, sliding down the wall until her knees were pulled up to her chest. "I mean, we both know that Kerry's a part of this family. Imagine how that made her feel?"

"Kerry just needs to blow off steam, she's just like me in that way I suppose." Raph mumbled a bit as he sat next to her. "Leo and I, we've always had fights but this one time we really hashed it out. We snapped at each other, saying stuff we really didn't mean, things we almost instantly regretted." Raph sighed a bit closing his eyes as he reminisced. "It caused us a lot of problems, I was out of line, and so was he. But do you know where we were a few days later?" he asked her. When he didn't receive an answer he went on, "We were sparing as if nothing happened, in fact because we overcame it we were stronger. But we needed time to calm down before even thinking about fixing it. I'm lucky how patient Leo was with me...and that Donnie is really good at calming people down." he joked.

"I just…" Alex muttered. "I can't lose anybody else. Not Elliott. Not my brothers. And I was upset. I didn't...I didn't me-" Alex took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"Alex!" Nathan came out into the hallway. "They called, we can go up."

She sighed, standing up slowly. "Okay," she said, her voice sounding extremely tired all of a sudden.

Raph looked up at her and asked her with his eyes if she wanted him to come. Alex smiled softly at him, pecking his lips. "They can only let the family in, right now," she told him. "Thanks," she told him, not only for being there but as well as the talk.

"No problem and uh,"Raph said. "We'll take care of her. You know, make sure she eats and sleeps and stuff." he said rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't need anything else to worry about tonight." He said knowing she'd be worrying about Kerry. Always putting others above herself.

Alex sighed in relief. "You're too good to me, Pumpkin," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Don't stay too long," she added. "Go home and get some rest."

"I love you." Raph said kissing her lips. "Take care of yourself too."

"I love you too," she told him.

* * *

I has been several hours after Alex and her brothers were let into Elliot's room. After a couple hours, Zack had finally been able to get in touch with Marcus, who showed up at the hospital not long after that. They spent a couple more hours in there together before Alex insisted Nathan and Zack take Marcus home to sober up more, and to shower since he reeked of sweat and alcohol.

Alex remained in Elliot's hospital room alone, though Emse stopped by about every half hour to see how Elliott was and to see if Alex or her brothers needed anything. However, after a while Alex fell asleep in her chair.

She woke up to hear a soft groan. She sat up in her hair, taking Elliot's hand as he slowly woke up. His eyes opened and tried to focus up at the ceiling before he shifted them down to Alex. "Munchmallow," he croaked out.

"You ruined my date night, Dick," she told him, though a clear smile was on her face in relief.

"Yay, a cockblock even when I'm unconscious," he muttered with a laugh though ended up coughing and groaning from the pain in his stomach, where his wound was.

"Easy," Alex told him. "You've gotta take it easy, Ellie."

"Easy? I don't know the meaning of the word easy," he retorted.

"Really? I recall you saying it was fairly easy to beat Marcus's ass when sparring," Alex reminded.

"Don't get all technical on me," he pretended to scold her.

"I'll get as technical as I want," Alex said, moving to carefully sit on the edge of his bed.

"You're not the boss of me," Elliott said.

"Oh, yes I am," Alex said. "Your boss, Mortu? Yeah, he stopped by to make sure you were okay. He said you're going to be out of work for a while because of this, so I'm to order you to stay in bed."

"What?" Elliott exclaimed, which hurt himself. "Ow, oh come on!"

"Hey, you're lucky to be alive," Alex told him. "A couple months or so off isn't going to kill you. If you don't get rest, on the other hand, I just might kill you myself!"

"That would be rather counter productive, wouldn't it?" Elliott stated.

"You can count me in," Esme said as she slowly opened the door, knocking slightly. "He's giving me grey hairs," she said smiling softly.

"And you would still be as beautiful as ever, Beautiful," Elliott gushed. "What are you doing here? Were you worried about little ol' me?"

"Elliot, we talked about this, it's Esme or Essy." she sighed though it wasn't exactly an irritated one. "And I work here."

"But you're my Beautiful!" he exclaimed, hurting his stomach again. "Ow!"

"Hey, don't yell or move so much!" Esme said softly coming forward quickly and placing a hand softly on his side.

"S-So you didn't come to see me?" he asked, sounding a little down about that. "Uh, sorry," he added.

"...I might work here but I made sure to come by and see you, Elliott," Esme mumbled.

Elliott looked up at the woman, a small smile, not a smirk, on his lips. "I knew you liked me, Beautiful."

"You grew on me, I suppose." Esme said taking his hand into her smaller .

"Like a fungus," Alex said. "That's what you are, fungi."

"Right, I'm a fun guy!" Elliott said.

"You're taking that out of context, Dick," Alex sighed.

"Exactly like a fungus." Esme sighed rolling her grey eyes.

"You two are so mean to me," he pouted. "Come on, I'm in the hospital for crying out loud!"

"My father used to say if you can whine you're fine." Esme said putting a hand on her hip.

"Smart man," Alex said. "Now shut your trap, El."

"You're creating a hostile environment! I could have you removed!" he joked.

"We can go, since you're fine," Alex said, standing up. "Have fun hanging by yourself, Dick!"  
"You want me to leave?" Esme said, grey eyes seemingly to go watery and her dark curls falling over her shoulder as her head tilted. The face was so heartbreaking, it stung. She turned to follow Alex.

"Alex, don't be like that. Esme!" Elliott called. "Oh come on! I was joking! No, Beautiful, don't cry! Please don't cry. I want you here, I swear. J-Just please don't cry."

Esme's face morphed into a smirk. "Play with a girls emotion huh?" she said hands back on her hips. "You're cruel." she pretended to huff.

"Oh, I see how it is," he said. He narrowed his eyes, a smirk firmly in place. "Beautifully played, Beautiful. _Beautifully_ played."

"If I'm going to be dealing with you, I need to be at the top of my game." Esme said innocently.

"Does that mean you're going to stick around?" he asked, his double meaning clear to the two girls in the room.

"...I suppose it does." Esme said looking away from him.

"Good," Alex said. "He's actually more bearable since you've been around."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"No, you resemble that," Alex corrected.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Alex, I have a way with reining people in." Esme joked.

"And that is exactly why I approve," Alex muttered.

"Approve?" Esme asked. "Approve of what?"

"You," both Elliott and Alex stated.

Esme blinked at them for a moment before tumbling over her words. "Y-You two just love teasing me, don't you!" she finally got out.

"Oh, she isn't teasing," Elliott stated. "She hated the last girl I went out with."

"I did," Alex admitted.

"She hid it very well, but we all knew you didn't like that I was going out with her," Elliott said.

"What can I say? I'm a good judge of character," she said. "What did I say was going to happen?"

"She'd cheat."

"What happened?"

"She cheated."

"Exactly my point."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear your last girlfriend was...like that," Esme said. Was she for real? Not even a swear? Or even maybe a mean word? How did she put up with Kerry's foul mouth? "It aggravates me when women do that, gives the rest of us poor names. Right Alex?"

"Word."

"Don't be gangster," Elliott said.

"I'm more gangster than you," Alex said.

"Puh-lease! I'm badass." He did a weird motion with his hands, ending up hurting his side.

"Okay Badass. Relax," Alex said with a roll of her eyes.

"Neither of you are gangster, you're so un-gangster it's sad." Esme said blandly, crossing her arms and shaking her head pitifully. She walked over to Elliot to make him sit here. "I'm serious, I am not above tying you to this bed if you don't settle down." she huffed to him.

"Would you?" Elliott asked. "That's the kinkiest thing you've ever said to me, Beautiful. And I'm all for it."

" _Ew, ew, ew._ " Alex covered her ears, shaking her head in disgust.

Esme did not hesitate in slapping his cheek, not hard enough to hurt him, just to get his attention. "Behave." she said narrowing her grey eyes at him, glinting like the steel of a sword.

"Okay, okay," he sighed.

"I mean it. You're going to be on bed rest for at least a month and knowing you, you'll go stir crazy and drive everyone else regular crazy." she huffed.

"You could always come and watch movies with me, Beautiful," Elliott suggested.

"I just might, out of mercy for your sister," Esme said. "Poor girl needs someone sane to help her take care of you."

"That would help," Alex said. "I mean, I have Nathan, but he's in school too and Zack's around some of the time, but he's upstate a lot. And Marcus would just get annoyed."

"Alright, I won't mind coming over and babysitting." Esme chuckled. "I can bring Kerry as well and you two can go off and have fun." she smiled.

Alex's smile fell at the mention of Kerry. Don and Raph had taken her home hours ago. None of them had been able to go and visit the unconscious Elliott due to the fact that they weren't family. Alex sighed. She needed to go apologize.

"Alex, are you alright?" Esme asked her. "If there's something wrong you can tell me, or I can leave and you can talk to Elliot alone."

"No, it's, uh, okay," Alex said. "Kerry and I just got into a fight. And I've gotta apologize to her later."

"Oh, well I wouldn't worry too much," Esme assured hand on her shoulder. "Kerry might come off all tough, but she isn't one to really hold grudges or stay too mad for too long."

"I know, I just said some things I shouldn't have. Things I didn't mean," Alex said.

"We all do,"Esme said. "But if you tell her that she'll understand. She knows people makes mistakes from her own experiences."

"I know, and I'll talk to her soon, but right now, I'm here for Elliott," Alex said.

"Of course."Esme nodded. She looked at her watch. "I have to get back to work. I'll see you two later, ya?" she said hugging Alex and planting a soft kiss on top of her head. She leaned down and kissed Elliot's forehead before heading to the door.

"Thanks for coming by, Esme," Elliott told her.

"Of course," Esme smiled at him. "I'll see you." she repeated before closing the door.

"Goodbye beautiful!" Elliott yelled as she exited.

"You are such a flirt."

"Am not."

"Are too."


	17. Favor

Chapter 17

Favor

Alex normally kept her cell phone turned off during school. It was against the rules to use cell phones during school hours anyway. But as the day went on, and Kerry seemed to avoid Alex the whole day, she became rather desperate. She was going to need help in her newly formed plan to apologize to the dark haired girl.

 **Alex: Raph, can I ask a favor?**

Alex sat back against one of the bookcases in the library. She had gone in there searching for Kerry during lunch. There had been no sight of the girl. So instead of going to the cafeteria to catch up with the rest of her group, she took up a little spot by one of the windows, away from the librarians in order to text Raph.

 **Raph: What's up?**

 **Alex: Can I catch a ride after school? I've gotta run someplace before work at April's.**

It was Tuesday, so nobody normally picked her up. She needed a ride if she was going to fit it in before her shift.

 **Raph: Yeah that'd be no problem. What are we doing?**

 **Alex: I've got to run to the craft store to get decorative paper.**

 **Raph: Wedding invitations already? Moving a bit fast aren't we? I haven't even gotten to second base yet.**

Alex rolled her eyes despite the blush forming on her face. _Well, it's not for a lack of trying_ , she thought. _On both parts…_ She cleared her throat, rubbing her neck as she tried to get that mental image out of her head. She was at school for crying out loud!

 **Alex: Why? You proposing?**

Her text was sent as a joke, though she could imagine spending her life with Raph. he made her happy. He could come home from work, kiss her on the cheek. She could make him dinner, and pie every once in a while. They could teach classes at the dojo together, and eventually teach their children how to fight and ice skate.

 **Raph: Sorry I don't have a ring. Would you settle for a donut?**

 **Alex: Yes, yes I would. ;)**

The girl rolled her eyes and heard footsteps going her way. She hid her phone under her leg and picked up her textbook to pretend to study. One of the librarians walked by, smiling down at the girl before going passed. Alex waited a moment before pulling her phone back out.

 **Alex: I've got an idea on how to make it up to Kerry for the fight.**

 **Raph: You mean you still haven't made up?**

Alex sighed. It wasn't for a lack of trying on her part either. Alex had basically searched the whole school after she didn't see Kerry at her locker that morning.

 **Alex: I think she's avoiding me…. :(**

 **Raph: She's prideful. She might not want to admit defeat just yet. You know how she gets. If it wasn't for Donnie, I don't think she'd even be at school today.**

 **Alex: I feel so bad! I didn't mean any of what I said. Honestly.**

 **Raph: Kerry wasn't exactly helping the situation, Firecracker.**

 **Alex: Yeah, but she was scared. I understand that. And she has valid points.**

 **Raph: Didn't mean she had to go ranting and raving about it. You had a right to tell her to stop. The Hick, needs to learn to think before speaking, needs to know her place.**

 **Alex: She's part of the family, Raph. She deserves to be able to speak her mind. I always tell her to be honest with me.**

 **Raph: But she's not actually family, right? I mean she didn't even grow up in the same part of the country as you.**

 **Alex: It shouldn't matter where she's from. We love her. Family is more than blood. You should know that better than anybody.**

 **Raph: Good. We agree. Just tell her that and you'll be fine. If you just tell her what you just told me, or any form of it this should work out fine.**

Alex smirked. He has a point. He always seemed to know what to tell her to lead her in the right direction; to make her feel better.

 **Alex: You always know what to say. That's one of the reasons why I love you. 3**

 **Raph: Thanks. I thought the words need to come from your own mouth in the moment, just like the harmful ones. That way you know you mean them this time.**

 **Alex: Again with all the right words.**

 **Raph: Well I had to have SOMETHING in common with Donnie I guess. We were raised together.**

Alex leaned back, her head bumping against the shelf. She should have said goodbye and put her phone away. She was only supposed to have it out to ask the favor, but she couldn't seem to put the phone away. She enjoyed talking to Raph far too much to think about putting the phone away.

 **Alex: So what are you up to, Hotshot? Anything interesting?**

 **Raph: Nah, Donnie is trying to to teach us...something. I don't know. It has a lot of numbers.**

Alex laughed. Of course math wasn't Raph's subject. At least he hadn't said it was Health class, or Sex Ed.

 **Alex: Shouldn't you be paying attention then?**

 **Raph: LEO isn't even paying attention.**

 **Alex: At least it isn't Sex Ed.**

 **Raph: I can teach you that. ;) We'll make it fun.**

Alex blushed, her whole body raising in temperature. Oh, this so wasn't the time for that kind of talk! But Alex couldn't resist.

 **Alex: Is that a promise? ;)**

 **Raph: Oh you bet.**

 **Alex: Like what exactly?**

She knew she should have asked for details. It wasn't like she could take care of her own business at school. She'd be left high and dry, but she couldn't stop. Raph had that effect on her.

 **Raph: You gotta sign up for the class first. 'Sides I don't think you should be day dreaming at school.**

 **Alex: I've got nothing better to do right now. It's my lunch break. I've still got about half an hour to kill.**

 **Raph: Yeah well you don't have any of your toys to help you out, now do you? Not like you could in the first place, being at school.**

Alex knew he had a point, but she didn't want him to win. She knew they wouldn't end up doing anything like Sexting while she was at school, but she could still tease him. Even if what she came back with wasn't true.

 **Alex: I may not have them, but there is a place called the bathroom where there are stalls. And I have these things called fingers, you know. They're useful for many things….**

 **Raph: Fucking hell Alex now I have to go take a shower and the guys will know you were texting me things!**

 **Alex: Or you could just go to your room and imagine it yourself. ;) I am your girlfriend, after all.**

 **Raph: Yeah cause that will go over so much better!**

 **Alex: The end result would be. ;)**

 **Raph: I hate you so much.**

 **Alex: No you don't. You love me.**

 **Raph: Which is why I hate you.**

 **Alex: You don't make any sense when you're horny, Honey.**

 **Raph: You don't make sense.**

 **Alex: I'm making more sense than you are, Pumpkin.**

 **Raph: You got me in trouble with Donnie.**

 **Alex: What did he say? Did you get detention?**

 **Raph: You are such a bitch. Now you have to write me an I'm sorry card too.**

 **Alex: This time I'm not teasing. I'm just asking. And I can get the paper for it when you bring me to the store, unless you can think of another way I can make it up to you….?**

 **Raph: He says I'm not allowed to text you during math class anymore and that if I do next time he's making me sit through the discomfort.**

 **Alex: Oh, so you got to leave to take care of business? ;)**

 **Raph: I'm flipping you off through the phone, just so you know.**

 **Alex: And my response would either be 1) right here, right now, or 2) You can't afford me.**

 **Raph: I can afford 2 dollars. I got to go.**

 **Alex: Okay, I'll see you later. Love you!**

 **Raph:...Love you too.**

* * *

Alex walked out of school after standing at her locker watching for Kerry for ten minutes. There was no sign of Kerry whatsoever, which put the girl down more. Kerry really was trying her best to avoid Alex, and she was succeeding.

"Hey," Alex greeted Raph as she walked up to him. Her voice sounded tired.

"Hey, no luck?" Raph asked holding out her helmet.

Alex shook her head with a sigh. "No luck."

"I can get Donnie to talk to her for you. Get her to snap her out of it. He ripped her a new one last night." Raph shrugged.

"He did? Really? Why?" Alex asked, taking the helmet.

"She said she wasn't going to go to school, despite having a big test that she had studied for really hard. Donnie wasn't going to just let her risk being sent to England over a little squabble that, knowing her, she'd get over in a day or two and regret." Raph chuckled, having been there for the fight when they dropped her off at her apartment. "He said she needed to stop being such a child about it. I think he bruised her pride but...she was at school today if that says anything about Donnie's influence over her."

"Well, thank heaven's for Donatello," Alex sighed, climbing on behind him.

"Well, he's in the Doghouse at the moment because of it, so I'd wait on the thank you text," he chuckled. "Kerry's a pro sulker huh?"

"Yup," she muttered.

"Good luck, Donnie," he mumbled as he drove off.

They drove for several minutes before they got to the craft store Kerry liked to get her art supplies at.

"Oh god this is going to be so much fun." Raph grumbled a bit , with a lot of sarcasm.

"Oh hush," Alex laughed, taking his hand. "I've just got to grab some paper and then we can head out."

"Alright but make it quick, I don't like the looks I'm getting."

Alex raised an eyebrow. She glanced around, not really understanding what he meant. "What?"

"Girls are looking at me, Alex. As if I'm the last piece of bubble gum." He shivered.

Alex frowned. Now she saw what he meant. There were several teenagers, as well as adult women looking at Raph, checking him out. They were checking her boyfriend out. Alex glared at them without realizing it. Raph was _her_ boyfriend. They didn't have the right to check him out. Alex pulled him along quickly. Oh, she couldn't have that.

"Let's hurry yeah?" Raph asked her, pressing close to her side.

"Yeah," she muttered. "Just, uh," she glanced at the other end of the isle, where several teenage girls, freshmen, she believed, were looking and giggling at Raph. "Give me a sec."

"Can I wait outside, on our getaway vehicle...please?" he groaned a bit, head hitting the shelf.

Alex glared at the girls. "If you'd like," she muttered. Raph kissed her and was off like a flash of lightning back to the front of the store and out the door.

Alex looked threw the paper quickly, trying to find the perfect paper. In the end, Alex found a light lavender colored paper with little black irises in the corners of the paper. She grabbed it and headed to the checkout, passing my the girls who had stared. She checked out, heading back out to meet Raph. The girls moved to the window, staring out at Raph and his bike.

"Finally," Raph groaned. "Where to now, Firecracker?"

Alex walked right up to Raph and grabbed his face, pulling him down to kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him there. Raph stumbled against his bike, gripping the handle to keep from hurting them as he caught her by her waist. He groaned into the kiss before returning it happily. She pulled back, looking at the girls in the store to see that their mouths were hanging open.

"Okay, now we can go," she said happily, a smirk in place.

"Alrighty then." Raph smirked at her as he pulled out her helmet.

* * *

Alex sat behind the counter of The 2nd Time Around. It was very quiet, giving Alex the perfect chance to write her letter to Kerry. She figured Kerry would find it less awkward to read the apology than for her to hear it. And seeing as she was avoiding Alex, this was one of the only ways she'd be able to do it.

 _Fruitcake,_

 _You are a hothead. You're loud and hyper and far too comfortable speaking your mind without thinking. However, those things make you who you are. Just like how kind you are, how you make people laugh when they're down. You genuinely want people to be happy. All of those things make you who you are, Kerry. They're the reasons why we all love you so much._

 _You're a member of this family whether you like it or not, Kerry. Blood doesn't make family, the heart does. And you will forever hold a place in all of our hearts. You're stuck with_

 _us, Fruitcake._

 _You're stuck with me. So I hope you can forgive me for the untruthful things I said to you. I didn't mean any of it whatsoever. I was stressed, as were you. I was scared. And you were too. I should have been there to comfort you, as you were there to support me and my brothers. Our family._

 _I'm sorry._

 _Dorkfish_

Alex sighed, looking down at the letter. That was as good as it was going to get. She just hoped it was enough for Kerry.


	18. Friends Again

Chapter 18

Friends Again

Alex didn't have time to slip the letter into Kerry's locker until lunchtime. She had been running a little later, since she had packed a dinner for Detectives Blake and Longer to drop off on her solo walk to tutoring that afternoon. However, Alex, in a rush because of making the packed dinners, ended up forgetting them on the kitchen counter.

After school she called Mikey to tell him she would be a little late, having to run an errand and to check on Elliott. He had no problem with it whatsoever. So Alex ran home as quickly as she could without slipping in the snow.

When Alex got to her apartment building, she ran up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. She opened the door, her keys in hand when she saw two people sitting on the couch. SHe froze. Elliott was obviously home, but the triplets weren't supposed to be back until around five.

Kerry was there. In her apartment. She was sitting against the couch near where Elliot's head was resting as they watched TV. Elliot had his fingers running through her hair as if she were a cat. And as if having his little sister's pissed friend with him in the apartment was completely normal.

Elliott glanced up when he heard the door open. "Hey," he greeted. "You forgot those roast beef sandwiches on the counter this morning."

"Uh, thanks," she muttered, slowly walking forward.

"You're lucky I stopped him, you know," Kerry said. "and I put them in the fridge. He wanted to eat them under 'scavenger rights,'" she said using air quotations.

"Thanks," Alex said. "Uh, we good?"

"...We're good." Kerry mumbled looking away to stare at the ground. "And uh, me too. You know...I am too."

Alex leaned over the back over the couch, wrapping her arms around Kerry. She kissed her cheek and said, "I'm sorry. I love you too, Fruitcake."

Kerry reached up and hugged her around the neck too from behind. "I love you too. and I'm sorry too."

"Where's my hug and kiss?" Elliott whined, feeling left out.

Alex rolled her eyes and did the same as she had done with Kerry to Ellie. "I love you, excessively needy brother."

"Esme will hug and kiss you when she comes over soon." Kerry scoffed.

"I hope so," he muttered.

"Aww what's wrong, Dick?" Kerry asked. "Getting blue balls or something?"

Elliott scoffed. "I'm waiting until she's ready," he said. "And plus, "We've only been out once."

"...she hasn't even kissed you yet, has she? And I mean actually kiss-kiss, not like on the forehead." Kerry snickered at him.

"No," he whined.

"Ask her on a movie date here," Alex said. "Ask her if tonight can be a date. You can order in. Watch whatever kind of movie she likes. And maybe a kiss can come. I mean, isn't second date normally the kiss?"

"Umm, I really don't think we're the best people to get advice of appropriate times to kiss, Alex," Kerry pointed out.

Elliot's face dropped. He looked up at the girl, his face stone cold. "What is she talking about, Alex?"

Alex rolled her eyes and smacked Elliott in the back of the head. "I have a boyfriend, stupid. Yeah, I've kissed him. Suck it up."

"Don and my first kiss only happened because I was being forced to move to England." Kerry pointed out again.

"Not you too!" he gasped. "Not my girls! You're supposed to think boys are icky!"

"Donnie is not icky, he's sexy as hell. You should have seen how he was when we were making out the other night I mean-"

"What?" he gasped. "You were making out with him while I was dying? How could you?"

"To be fair, I didn't know you were dying at the time," Kerry defended. "though I did almost ignore Zack's call in favor of making out more. We were getting to the good part."

"Ouch," ALex muttered.

"You wouldn't do something like that, would you Alex?"

"No, I picked up the phone," Alex admitted, keeping out what she had been doing with Raph at the time.

"We so knew you were making out," Kerry chuckled a bit. "Raph was itching for it when we left the restaurant.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex denied.

"Uh huh." Kerry scoffed getting up to get her stuff ready. "We going to tutoring or what?"

"Yeah," Alex said. She left the living room and grabbed the bag of sandwiches from the fridge. She put them in her bag to bring to the detectives later.

"Sweet, I got my test great back and I'm very pleased with it." Kerry hummed mostly to herself.

"That's great," Alex said. "Congrats. I know you worked hard on studying for that. "

"I owe a lot of it to Donnie," Kerry shrugged a bit. "I...got to talk to him too."

"Yeah, Raph told me a little about what happened," Alex said.

"When Donnie gets pissed he _really_ gets pissed." Kerry grumbled softly, rubbing the back of her neck slightly.

"That's surprising," Alex admitted.

"Tell me about it," Kerry groaned. "It's almost terrifying."

"I'd imagine so."

"So yeah, let's get all the pride blows out of the way." Kerry sighed a bit and headed to the door. "See ya Dick."

"See ya, Dubois!" Ellie yelled. "See you later, Alex!"

"Bye!"

* * *

"I'm telling you, you'd love me as your girlfriend." Kerry argued with her. "I mean, look at me. I add spice to your life."

"I'd be too stressed. You'd shorten my lifespan by a decade or more," Alex said.

The two walked into the Hamato's house as if they lived there themselves. They entered into the living room area where all three teenage boys were located, doing their own thing, as usual.

"Oh come on, really? I'm basically a female Raphael!" Kerry argued. "Face it, if you we were lesbians we'd make a good couple."

"I honestly don't see it," Alex said. She sat down on the couch next to Mikey. She took out all of her materials while still addressing Kerry, "I mean, if I were a lesbian, I'd probably go for more of the book worm kind of girl."

"Puh-lease you would not. A book worm girl wouldn't satisfy you. You'd be bored in like 10 minutes." Kerry rolled her eyes. "Now a book worm for me would definitely work."

"No way," Alex said. "If you think I'd get bored, you'd get bored even quicker! I mean, I _love_ to read. We could read together."

"I like to read! Just not while sitting still. And do you really think I need someone to encourage me to get into trouble?" Kerry asked her.

"Lesbians?" Mikey muttered, looking at the two girls before he turned to his brothers. His facial expression was an obviously confused one.

"We wondered if we were lesbains if we would end up dating or not. I think we would." Kerry shrugged a bit as she sat her bag down and started pulling out her work.

"And I don't," Alex said.

"...I kinda wish you two were still fighting." Raph grumbled a bit. "At least we got a break from these weird conversations you two have."

"Oh hush," Alex shushed. "You're just trying not to imagine us having hot lesbian sex."

"Ew, no!" Raph hissed. "Are you trying to burn my eyes with the image of the hick naked?!"

"You are so lying right now, Raph," Mikey laughed.

"Are you saying you are imagining me naked?" Kerry asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"Always." Mikey answered, clicking his tongue at her.

"Mikey!" Don scolded.

"Wait, if you're imagining her, then you're imagining me, right?" Alex thought.

"Again, duh." Mikey said and was already on his feet, prepared to run from his two brothers. Both Don and Raph were right on his heels.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or uncomfortable," Alex muttered.

"A little bit of both? I mean, I don't get told often I'm imagined naked." Kerry joked a bit with a wink to her best friend. "Unless you have something to admit, Lexi."

"Nope, nothing here to admit except to my boyfriend, Fruitcake," Alex said.

"Awww." Kerry pouted jokingly before she went over to Don's work area with her homework and graded test.

"Raph, leave Mikey alone!" Alex called to her boyfriend. "We've got work to do.'

"We are _not_ letting him get away with this!" Raph growled as the trio bolted around the room, the two older brothers gaining on Mikey.

"He's allowed to have his own fantasies!" Alex sighed. "I mean, we all have them. Just as long as he doesn't act upon them."

"Bu-" Raph started to argue but Kerry kicked her foot out causing him to come crashing to the ground.

"I do not need either one of you defending my honor and neither does Alex." Kerry said hands on her hips. "We can handle it," she huffed, growing irritated at all three of them.

"Plus, I'm sure all of us have had fantasies or dreams about people we probably shouldn't have," Alex admitted.

"Yeah, so get over it." Kerry huffed a bit.

"Thank you!" Mikey sighed happily.

"So can we get to work now, please?" Alex asked. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner we have time to goof off."

"I agree, I don't want to spend the entire time doing homework." Kerry grumbled a bit.

"Fine fine fine!" Mikey groaned before heading back over to her. Raph picked himself of the floor with a growl, sending a glare Kerry's way before going to his punching bag.

Kerry ignored him and angled her head away as Donnie came over to her. She just couldn't find the words she need to say to him after she yelled at him to get out of her apartment. He had a right to scold her. She was being childish, but that didn't make apologizing any less painful.

"How did you do on your test?" Don asked her as he watched her get her things out of her backpack.

Kerry peeked at him before she pulled a paper out and handed it to him to see the 93 witten on the top of it. "I did good...better than I would have if I didn't show up...thanks." She mumbled quietly.

Don shrugged. "Sometime everybody needs a little push," he said.

"..Sorry and you know...stuff." Kerry mumbled crossing her arms. "For yelling and shit." she grumbled looking away from him once more.

Don turned to her, a small smile on his face. He got up from his stool and walked up to Kerry, placing a hand gently on her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly. Kerry blushed darkly her eyes blinking at him in shock but she gave in and kissed him back.

Don pulled back, leaning his forehead against her's. "Don't worry about it," he told her.

"I-I," Kerry blushed before her cheeks puffed out a bit stubbornly. "I apologized because I wanted to not because I had to!" she huffed.

Don chuckled, kissing her forehead. "I know. Thanks," he said.

"Y-yeah," Kerry stuttered. "Now help me out on this calculus."

"As you wish," he chuckled.


	19. The End

Chapter 19

The End

"Top or bottom?" Alex asked Kerry, continuing their conversation as they walked into the main room of the Hamato's place.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mikey said, stopping the two girls. "Rewind please! I wanna hear this!"

"I'd be top. I'm always top." Kerry said ignoring Mikey.

"Well, it's a good thing I prefer bottom then," Alex thought. "Though top would be nice every once in a while."

"Please tell me you're talking about bunk beds," Leo groaned.

"But I really don't think top or bottom is the problem here." Kerry said. "The problem is making out."

"What?" Raph asked looking between the two girls.

"Which is a complete lie," Alex stated. "We're straight as boards!"

"What is going on?" Don asked.

"Why do I pretend I'm gay for you!" Kerry growled, hands thrown in the air.

"And why does it turn me on so much?" Mikey muttered to himself.

"Mikey!" His brothers yelled.

"This is all your fault, you know!" Alex accused. "All you had to do was leave the call last night!"

"What call?" Don asked.

"And what did you do on this call?" Mikey questioned. "Oh, please let it be good!"

"But no, you didn't! And you got us in this mess!" Alex said. "'Hey! I'm Alex's girlfriend!' Really?!"

"I thought everyone knew it was a joke!" Kerry argued. "These shippers are making me question my whole life!" she sobbed.

"Well, they do have a point. you don't have much of an ass, but you've got a nice rack," Alex said.

Donnie and Mikey blushed as they turned to look at Kerry, eyes on her chest before they nodded.

"You don't have either so I get nothing!" Kerry grumbled.  
"Yeah, but I'm flexible, so it doesn't really matter," Alex said.

"Girls, what have we talked about," Leo began to scold.

"I don't know, what have we talked about, Leo?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"Yeah and a lot of the time when you talk, it shoulds like the adults from Charlie Browns." Kerry said with a shrug.

"I can honestly say that's not the case with me," Alex told him.

"So in the end, I think whenever I see you and your freaky face, I know I'm not gay." Kerry shrugged.

"Ouch," Alex muttered, placing a hand over her heart. "You've broken my heart, Fruitcake!"

"My dreams and fantasies!" Mikey complained.

"Mikey!" Alex groaned. "Seriously, you're going to admit that out loud after what happened the last time you did that?"

"You know me, I don't think before I speak!" Mikey said.

"That's evident," Alex muttered.

"But it's okay, they're kinda distracted right now," Mike added,

"What?" she asked, turning around to see what he meant.  
Both Don and Raph were looking at one another with looks of determination, before both boys started to slowly inch towards the door. It took a another moment before both of them bolted it to the door, obviously trying to make it to the bathroom for a shower before the other.

Alex and Kerry both leaned out of the doorway to look down the hallway to see who won the race to the cold shower.

Don had snatched up an umbrella on his way passed the door and leaned down to hook the curved end around his brothers ankle causing the redhead to crash to the ground.

"Dude!" Raph growled as he looked up at his usually gentle and passive brother as he entered the room casually.

"All's fair in love and war, bro." Donnie said darkly as he closed the door behind him, Kerry burst out into laughter falling onto her back from the pain in her sides.

Alex exited the room and headed down the hallway. She knelt down next to Raph, gently placing a hand on his back. She leaned over to look at him in the eyes as she asked, "You okay?"

"No." he grumbled. "I need a shower." he grumbled.

"Oh Honey," she muttered sympathetically. She leaned in and pecked his lips softly, knowing very well that her action wasn't helping at all. She remained close, her lips brushing his as she stated, "You know, you could just take care of that in your room."

"Stop talking please!" Raph stated in a rush as he tried to stumble to his feet and get away from her before she made the _problem_ became worse and even apparent.

Alex was left there staring as Raph ran into his room and slammed the door behind him. She wasn't alone for long, however, as Master Splinter walked up behind her and scared her when he cleared his throat.

"Alexandra," he said.

'Oh, sorry Master," Alex said, standing up. She bowed respectfully.

"May I speak with you in private, child?" he asked her.

"Uh, yeah," she answered. "Of course."

He lead her to the meditation room for some peace and quiet. He took his usual place on his cushion, while Alex sat down on the one in front of him, sitting on her knees.

"Is something wrong, Masters?" she asked.

"You have become very important to this family, Alexandra," Master Splinter stated.

"As have you all," she put in.

"You make them very happy, and better people," he added.

"Oh, thank you," she said blinking in shock from the sudden compliment.

"And it pains me to bring this ultimatum to you," he said.

"Ultimatum?" Alex asked, suddenly extremely worried.

"Yes, I have been informed that you are a member of an organization called the Guardians," he said. "And as you well know, I was one of the founding members of this group."

"Yes, you are held in high regards to not only me, but my brother and all of the Guardians," Alex said, nodding her head.

"And so it pains me to tell you I wish for my sons to have nothing to do with my former business," he said. "You must understand, the Guardians put themselves in great danger with the business they deal with. I want my sons happy and safe."

Alex was starting to see where he was going with this, and she didn't like it one bit. "T-That makes sense," she muttered, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"So, I must ask you to resign from your duties as a Guardian if you so wish to continue tutoring Michelangelo, or to be a part of this family," he stated. "If you do not resign, I am afraid I must ban you from this household."

 _Ban?_ she asked herself. She couldn't' see the guys? But she was so close to getting the person who murdered her parents. She couldn't let that slip up, could she? should she protect the guys and hunt the man down, leaving them behind in doing so, or let him remain free and still remain a part of the family?

"I wish I did not have to do this to you or my sons, Alexandra," he said. "But you must understand. Their safety in my main concern."

"I-I understand," she muttered, her face growing hot as she tried to compose herself. "A-And I respect your wishes."

"You will resign?" he asked.

Alex sighed. "No, Master," she stated.

"Then you must leave this house at once," he told her.

Alex bowed, the tears slipping out of the corners of her eyes. "As you wish, Master," she said before standing up. "I'll drop off the rest of my lesson plans for Don to work with Mikey in the mailbox." She gulped. "I'm sorry, Master."

"As am I, child," he said. "As am I."

* * *

Alex was beyond fidgety, that was quite evident to anybody that could see her. However, it was only her and Raph in her apartment. They were sitting on the couch together, watching a hockey game. Or rather, Raph was watching the hockey game. Alex was sitting there on the couch, one of her legs bouncing as she nervously tried to figure out how to go thru with what she had to.

She barely spoke to Raph. Alex was doing everything to try and avoid sitting close to Raph. She'd try and focus on the game, but she'd get distracted by her thoughts. She kept going to refill their drinks and snacks, even going as far as doing some of her homework.

"Hey, everything okay?" Raph asked her after 30 minutes of silence.

Alex jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him quickly, before having to avert her eyes. "Uh, yeah," she muttered, looking back down to her homework.

"You've been acting weird for the past few days. Are you sure nothing happened?" Raph asked her once more.

"No, everything's fine, Raph," Alex sighed. _I hate how well he knows me_ , she thought.

"Come on, I know you, something is up," Raph insisted.  
"No, nothing _is_ wrong, Raphael," she insisted sternly.

"Something _is_ wrong, especially since you just called me Raphael." Raph insisted.

Alex scoffed, putting her work on the coffee table. She turned to Raph, obviously annoyed. "You know, Raph, despite how much you think you know me, you don't know everything about me," she pressed.

"I do know you, thank you very much, at least enough to know when something isn't right," Raph said narrowing his eyes. "I'm not stupid."

"Well, sometimes you prove otherwise," she started, rolling her eyes. She picked up her work and sat back, leaning away from her boyfriend.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Raph glared.

"Oh, you know very well what that means," she told him. "You're definitely not the brightest crayon in the box."

"Well excuse me for being so fucking stupid," Raph snapped at her. "I'm just some big hot head huh? Sorry for thinking that didn't matter when it came to my girlfriend."

"Yes you are a hothead," Alex stated. "And I never said you were _stupid_ , Raph."

"You just did! You just said I'm not the brightest crayon in the box! Now I'm deaf too?"

"No, I didn't!" she protested. "That means you're not the smartest person I know, but it doesn't mean you're the stupidest!"

"It's basically a way of calling someone stupid in a polite way!" Raph rolled his eyes.

"Well, if that's what you think, then maybe you are!" she scoffed.

"So you really do think I'm stupid!" Raph snapped again.

"Jesus, Raph! Stop putting words in my mouth!" she yelled.

"I'm not putting words in your mouth!" Raph argued. "I'm reading between the lines, you always say I need to get the meaning being the words!"

"I don't think you're stupid, you _idiot_!" she yelled, standing up from her seat on the couch. Her vision was getting cloudy from tears welling up in her eyes. _No,_ she thought. _Don't cry. Don't cry, don't cry._

"That's contradictory!" Raph said getting up as well to be level with her.

"So what if it is? This whole _thing_ is contradictory!"

"What thing? The argument?" Raph snapped.

"This whole thing!" she yelled. "You and me and this entire relationship!"

Raphael's expression darkened. "If you have such a problem with it then why bother!"

Alex's stomach dropped. This hadn't been how she had planned on breaking it off with Raph, but somehow that was where it lead. It made her sick knowing that she was hurting him. But she had to do it. She was putting him in more danger by staying with him while she was a Guardian.

"I don't know," she said, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Then here, I'll make it easy on you," Raph grumbled as he went to the door, grabbing his jacket on the way out. "I'm done with you," he said and slammed the door behind him.

 _I'm done with you._

The words echoed and replayed in her head as she stood there, staring at the door. She held her breath, trying to prevent herself from sobbing.  
 _I'm done with you._

It had almost been six months since Alex had met the guys and she never thought she would be such good friends with them. She never realized she would fall in love with Raphael. And she never realized she would be in so much pain breaking up with him in order to protect him.

 _I'm done with you._

He was done with her. He was completely and utterly done with her and that made her want to collapse right then and there. She saw Raph almost every single day for almost half a year and every time she saw him, he put a smile to her lips. He made her heart skip a beat and her heart flutter.

 _I'm done with you._

But now he was gone and all she could think about was that he was done with her. He didn't care anymore. He didn't want to put in anymore effort. And she knew she pushed him. She knew she said things she didn't mean in the heat of the fight due to her stress over what Master Splinter had said. But now he didn't care anymore.

 _I'm done with you._

And just like that, it was all over.

 _I'm gonna be sick_ , Alex thought, rushing to the bathroom. She got sick, tossing up the dinner she had made for her and Raph that night. Remembering that she had specifically made steak and pie for Raph that night made her sick again. And again until she was dry heaving into the toilet.

"Munchmallow?" A voice asked as knocks sounded on the door of the bathroom.

"Go away!" she groaned, dry heaving again. She coughed, running a hand through her hair, trying to pull it away from her sweaty face.

"...Okay that is doing the exact opposite of what you want right now. I'm not leaving now."

"Leave me alone!" she cried, She couldn't deal with with Elliott right now. She didn't want to deal with anything.

"Nope coming in." Elliot said and the door swung open. "You okay?" he asked kneeling down. "Eat something funky?"

"No," she muttered.

"Okay then, you getting sick?"

She shook her head, turning away from him.

"Are you dying?" Elliot asked her next.

"That's not funny, Ellie," she mumbled.

"Well if you just told me what's wrong I wouldn't have to ask," Elliot said.

Alex sighed, staring down at her hands. "Raph," she muttered, the name making her want to throw up again.

"...the fuck did that little bastard do." Elliot growled under his breath.

"I…" she muttered. "W-We broke up." she stated, not specifying who broke up with who.

"Why? I thought you two were working great together." Elliot mumbled with furrowed eyebrows.

Alex bit her lip, trying to fight the urge to cry again. "W-We were," she mumbled.

"Then why..." Elliot started but saw the tears beginning to build. "U-Uh it's going to be fine, I mean there are plenty of fish in the sea."

 _But I want him_ , Alex thought. "Go away," she muttered.

"I don't think that's a good idea, what with the state you're in..."

"Leave. Me. Alone," she repeated darkly.

"I-I umm ...okay?" Elliot said standing up and backing out of the room as if she were a rabid dog. "I'm going to make a call." He moved behind the door and called up Esme.


	20. Here We Go Again

Chapter 20

Here We Go Again

Alex didn't expect the break up to hit her so hard. She couldn't sleep, but when she did manage to get a little shut eye, she was plagued by nightmares. So instead of sleeping, she spent her time in the living room in the dark with a tub of chocolate ice cream in her lap, eating away.

Marcus had tried to take some from her, but ended up getting tackled by Zack and Elliot, who both claimed that he would be a dead man if he messed with a heartbroken girl's ice cream and coping mechanism. Esme told him so in the call he had placed to her after he found Alex in the bathroom the night the redheaded couple broke up.

The front door suddenly unlocked, but instead of her brothers coming in it was Kerry. "Alex what the heck is going on?" the girl asked dropping her bag on the ground.

Alex just put another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, preventing herself from speaking. She didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to do what she knew she had to with Kerry either.

She had been thinking about what Master Splinter has said. He didn't want his sons in danger, so the only option was to cut every tie with the Guardians. That included Alex. And if Alex being a Guardian put _them_ in danger, it had to put _Kerry_ in danger as well. She couldn't risk her best friend getting hurt because of her, even if she had to hurt her in order to protect her.

"Alex, are you listening to me?" Kerry asked, standing in front of her now. "Why did you break up with Raph? The guy's a mess now! I thought you loved him!"

"I didn't break up with him," she muttered putting the spoon in her mouth again.

"From what I heard you say, you might as well have!" Kerry said sitting down next to her. "What's going on?"

"It's none of your business," she stated. _Okay, here we go_ , she thought. _Just do it. Get it over with now so you don't put Kerry in anymore danger._

"It is my business Alex." Kerry said. "I sometimes think I know you better than myself and I know something is wrong! Alex, I'm worried about you! You're acting odd."

Alex scoffed. "Now you sound like Raph," she muttered. "You think you know me. You think you know everything about me, don't you!"

"I do know you." Kerry sighed a bit. "Alex, what are you-"

"You don't know _anything_!" Alex yelled, getting up off the couch. "How dare you claim otherwise! You have _no_ place to do so!"

Kerry froze. "What the _hell,_ Alex?" Kerry said her brows furrowing as she looked up at her. "It _is_ my place! We're family."

"No we're not!" Alex yelled. "Don't you get that? We're not family! You have your own family and I have mine!"

"But, I want to be with you and your family." Kerry mumbled. "I'm happy here."

Alex gulped, seeing just how hurt Kerry was by her words _. Do it, Alex_. _She's better off without you,_ she told herself. _She's safer. She doesn't need you. She had the guys_. "Well, maybe I'm happier without you being apart of it," Alex lied.

Kerry's head went down her dark black bangs hiding her green orbs from view. "...well fuck you too, Alex O'Neil." Kerry said standing up. "Fuck you and your family. I don't need you, I don't need anyone. I was just fine being all alone before!" she snapped as she grabbed her stuff and stompled off to the door. "I don't need _anyone_!"

"Don't be stupid, you and I both know you need Donatello more then you admit," Alex said, trying to steer her in a direction where someone could help make her feel better and move on.

"No!" Kerry said. "I'm fine on my own, being on my own, and being alone! I've done it for years. I shouldn't have thought moving here would be different." Kerry grumbled hand on the door knob.

"Oh yeah, and how has that been any help to you!" Alex yelled. :"When I met you, you were shut out. You were antisocial and you had no friends. People can't live like that. It's sad and pathetic."

"...it's better than having to deal with this." Kerry muttered quietly. "People leave, people die, and soon, you're all that remains. So yeah, maybe I am sad and pathetic, but hell what the fuck does that make you, bitch?" Kerry said yanking the door open, "Have a fucking awesome life without me in it, I'm sure it'll be great." she said and slammed the door behind her.

Alex growled, throwing the tub of ice cream against the wall. "I'm trying to protect you," she mumbled to the empty room. "I can't, I can't," she cried. "I can't have anybody else that I care about get hurt."

* * *

The only way Alex was able to not feel anything was by pushing herself harder in training, which was noted by her brothers, Mortu, Usagi and Emma. She would run every morning. She'd run every afternoon after school, before she went to work. She'd train herself extra hard during classes at the dojo, and she's almost make herself sick by how much she pushed herself during Guardian training.

Alex barely ate. She barely slept. All that mattered was her work and school.

And that was exactly what Alex was doing. It was late at night. She hadn't been able to sleep, so she snuck out of the fire escape of her bedroom window. She didn't want to wake Elliott, because he would yell at her for her actions.

"You're up rather early," Leo said as he leaned against the tree he stepped out from behind.

Alex came to a stop, looking through the darkness. She sighed, knowing that even if she ignored him, Leonardo would follow her. "What do you want, Leo?" she asked.

"To know why you're tearing my family apart," Leo said darkly.

"People change, they move one and leave," she said. "It happens."

"Yeah but the thing is, that's not true for us."

"Things happen that you don't like," Alex said. "A heart doesn't break even."

"But you see, I don't believe it did." Leo said as he approached. "I see you, you can't fool family, Alex, you're falling to pieces."

"That's because I'm getting used to my new life, Leo," she said.

"Life isn't supposed to suck that much," Leo scoffed.

"How do you know? Huh?" Alex asked. "I mean, what have you actually done with your life? All you ever do is work out and stay at home with your brothers."

"You wanna know what I did. I kept this family together. Back in home, _I_ was the dad. _I_ made sure no one ever beat the ever living crap out of Raph ever again, _I_ made sure no one shattered Mikey's dreams to pieces by calling him stupid one too many times. _I_ held Donnie when he woke up, so afraid that we had left him like his mom tried to do. _I_ work out so much so _I_ can protect _them_ when they need me, so I can hold them on their two feet when they stumble. I need them and they need me. And Now you have broke them all over again, them, Kerry, and me," Leo said darkly. "You wanna know what I do with my life? I keep everyone fucking alive that's what."

Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling over and down her cheeks no matter how hard she tried to prevent them from doing so. Why did she have to keep hurting all of the people she cared most about? Why couldn't they just move on and forget about her? She wasn't important. She was a danger to them, just like Master Splinter said. They were far better off without her. "You may keep them alive, but that's not my job," Alex said. "It's not my job to care anymore."

"No, you're right! It's not your job, and it's not mine! _Because it's not a fucking job_! It's a privilege an honor. One you used to be proud to uphold. One you don't deserve apparently. Loving someone to the point where you want to give your life for them is not a job. I love my brothers, I love Kerry, and I loved you. you were my sister. Now I see you were nothing of the sort."

" I just keep hurting people," she said. "That's what I do best, apparently. So if I were you, I'd be smart and stay the hell away from me and my family."

"I came here hoping to get down to the bottom of this, why you broke my brother heart and tore your best friend to pieces, but now I see I can't talk any sense into you." Leo said turning his back to her. "I'll never forgive you for what you did. I'll never let you near them again."

 _Good_ , she thought. _Because I don't deserve it_.

Leo finally walked away from the girl. She stared at him as he went. "I'm so sorry," she muttered, putting her hand over her mouth to prevent him from hearing if he was still close enough. "I'm so sorry."


	21. Unfortunate Sighting

Chapter 21

Unfortunate Sighting

"Splitting up isn't an option," Alex uttered, staring at the map drawn on the back of the paper placemat on the table. She was sitting in at a smaller table in the back of Franco's with Emma and Usagi, discussing their strategy for their breakin to the Purple Dragon's hideout. "There's strength in numbers and since there's only three of us. We can't risk someone getting cornered on their own."

"We don't have enough members to split up and effectively cover the entire base. I say we do more surveillance and get places of high traffic marked for avoidance." Emma said seriously. "We need to go in at the slowest time of day and the lowest occupied access point."

"We have had people on watch constantly for the past three weeks," Usagi said. "I took several of the shifts. If we want to get in quickly without getting noticed, this," he said, circling an area on the back roof, "is our best bet of getting in."

"The back access hatch?" Alex asked, turning her head to look at it better. "I don't know, the west windows seem like the more opportune entryway."

"The location depends on the time of day or night we plan on going in. The place is more active during the night time so I suggest at sunset we head in though the west windows when people are heading down for their less than legal activities," Emma said.

Alex rubbed her eyes, trying to figure this out. It was incredibly difficult to try and concentrate when she hadn't slept in three days. "Yeah," she sighed. "Yeah, I agree with that. What about you, Usagi?"

"I believe that will be efficient," he told her. "The next question is when do we put the plan into effect?"

"Sooner rather than later," Alex stated, trying to rub the bag out from under her eyes. "We don't know if or when they might change bases."

"Agreed." Emma and Usagi said.

Alex's stomach growled, but the pizza on the plate in front of her looked so unappetizing. It reminded her of the guys. She pushed the plate to the side and leaned back in her seat, looking around the restaurant. There were several people dancing, but not as hardcore as she had done with Kerry and Raph. There were three younger teenagers in line at the counter for their pizza, while a large group of people entered thru the door.

The redhead's face paled. _You have got to be kidding me,_ she thought, her stomach churning. She looked away from the Hamato's and Kerry and down to the paper in front of her. It had been almost three months since she had last spoken to any of them, the last being Leo when he cornered her on her evening run. After that talk, none of them approached her again.

Kerry had pretty much wilted in her already small frame. She wasn't dressed like herself, either wearing only a black t-shirt and jeans. From her lack of edgy makeup and piercings it was obviously she had been taken out against her will. It's good to know despite her declaration of not needing anyone the guys we're going to let her go that easily.

Mikey and Don were trying to make some jokes to get the girl to laugh, while Don hovered extremely close to the girl, wary of anybody that approached her. Leo walked in the back of the group with Raph, keeping an eye on his family, much like he had stated when she had last spoken to him.

And Raph...he didn't look that bad, until you saw his eyes. Instead of glowing green eyes, that Alex always found herself getting lost in, there were harden emeralds in their place. His jaw was strained tight as he glared at any living creature that was not his family or his hick. He looked like a very feral animal, ready to kill if necessary. This side of him reminded Alex of how he had been towards her before he trusted her into his family. And now she was the cause of his hostility towards everybody again.

Leo spotted her first, his blue eyes almost turning into liquid steel as he stepped forward with a graceful maneuver. He moved around his family, using his body to shield them from seeing the object of all their pain.

"Alex?" Emma asked, noticing that the girl shrank in her seat, trying not to look over at her old friends, or have anymore of them notice.

"What?" she asked without classing up at the girl.

"Who are those people?" Usagi asked.

"What people?" Alex asked, trying her hardest to deny anything was wrong.

"Those people, the four boys and the dark girl," Emma said.

"Oh, uh, that's my ex-boyfriend and his family, and my ex-best friend," she told them, rubbing the back of her neck.

"O...kay?" Emma mumbled.

"Would you like to move the meeting somewhere else?" he asked.

"Uh, no it's okay. We're almost done anyways," Alex muttered.

"You sure, I mean, It would really suck being around them too much." Emma muttered. "Which one is..."

"The redhead," she informed her. Alex picked up the map and brought it closer to her, looking over it once more to make sure the entrance they had chosen was the best option.

"Oh, why did you break up?" Emma asked.

Ale sighed. "You remember that one lesson where they gave us the history lesson? When they told us about the founding members?"

"Yeah," Emma said.

"Hamato Yoshi is his father," she informed them. "And he found out I was a Guardian. He doesn't want the guys involved with any of this, so he gave me a choice: Remain a part of the family and quite or stay a Guardian and not be involved."

"That's so stupid!" Emma said. "I mean, they can defend themselves, right? "

"Yeah, but honestly? If I was in his position I probably would have done the same thing," Alex said. "I wouldn't want them in danger. But this is something I have to do, so I made a choice. Raph and I broke up, I fought with Kerry, fought with Leo. All to get them away from me and the danger of the Guardians."

"Doesn't that hurt them more though? I mean, they don't look so good," Emma mumbled.

"They'll be fine," Alex muttered. She didn't like to hear things like that. She had to believe what she was doing was the right thing. "They always are. They'll be safer without me in their lives."

"They don't look fine." Emma mumbled. "I'd never want to leave my friends or family, because I want be there to protect them from things."

"I was there when my parents were taken," Alex said. "And I couldn't protect them."

"But you did your best, and that keeps you from even more pain, knowing that," Usagi said.

"I want to prevent this from happening to more people," Alex said. "I have to catch the guy who did this."

"And we're with you." Emma said placing a hand on hers.

"Would you like to continue with at HQ?" Usagi asked. "It's almost time to for training."

"Sure," Alex said. She stood up, crumpling the map up and putting it on her paper plate. She tossed out the garbage and glanced over at the table where her old friends were.

The group watched her from from their usual table, the others having noticed her despite Leo's best attempts to hide her away. Two pairs of green eyes seemed to stab her in the back of the head.

Alex sighed and looked to her teammates. "Come on," she sighed. "I can feel the hatred radiating off of them. It's making me feel even more guilty than I already feel."

* * *

"Why can't I talk to her?" Mikey asked as he sat down at the booth after Kerry and Don slid in.

"Because," Raph grumbled. "Now, I want pepper-" he started to say before realizing that was Alex's favorite, "Just _cheese_."

"Aww, but I want pepperoni." Mikey whined a bit.

"I don't want anything." Kerry mumbled a bit, her green eyes not making appearance from her her blank bangs.

"You've gotta eat something, Kerry," Don scolded.

"I don't want too." She grumbled.

"I'm getting you something," he told her. "And you're going to eat it, because I spent my own money on it. You don't want me to waste my allowance, do you?"

"No," Kerry mumbled. "I hate you."she grumbled.

"No you don't," Don muttered, taking her hand in his.

"...I know." Kerry grumbled a bit, pressing against his side.

Don kissed her temple gently. "It'll be okay," he muttered to her.

"You'll both get past this." Leo assured his brother and his friend.

"What happened in the first place?" Mikey asked. "I mean, I don't get this at all! Alex wouldn't do this. She's our friend!"

"Well she did!" Raph snapped. "And she looks pretty fine with the decision."

"Are you sure? I mean, she doesn't look fine," Mikey muttered. "She looks sick."

"It's not our business anymore," Kerry muttered darkly.

"I still think it is," Mikey said. "I mean, she's basically family. We can't just leave family."

Kerry's expression turned dark. "I'm heading to the restroom," she muttered darkly as she shoved her way past Mikey.

"What did I say?" Mikey muttered.

"Something, stupid like usual." Raph hissed.

"Raphael, calm down." Leo said to him.

"But what really did bring this on?" Don asked. "I mean, none of this sounds like Alex."

"She obviously doesn't care, I mean right after breaking up with me and tearing Kerry a new one she had a new boyfriend and best friend." Raph said glaring across the room at the trio.

"You don't know that," Mikey said. "I mean, I saw the way she looked at you when she saw you. To me, that didn't look like someone who wasn't still in love with you. And she wasn't all cozy with that other guy. Not like she was with you."

"Mikey, trust me. Alex doesn't want anything to do with any of us." Leo sighed setting his menu down.

"But why? I mean, she has to have a reason! We deserve to know what that is, right?" Mikey said.

"The reason is she was tired of pretending to like a band of misfits like us." Kerry muttered as she came back to the table, pulling her jacket sleeves down over her hands.

"I don't believe that," Mikey said.

"Believe it,Mikey, she told me herself," Kerry said.

"Same here." Raph muttered. "She's tired of us and pretending to be our ...friend."

"Nope," he said, sitting back with his arms crossed.

"Quit being damn stubborn! She's gone, she never liked us in the first place." Raph argued.

"No, you stop being so _damn stupid_!" Mikey retorted. He leaned forward, slamming his fists onto the table. "All of you are being so _fucking stupid_! I mean, come on! We _know_ Alex! Something was off _before_ all of this happened. Don't you see that? Something had to have happened to make her do this."

"I'm going home." Kerry mumbled stepping away from the table, shrinking in on herself. She didn't want to hear this, she didn't want any shred of hope that Alex might still love her. It would only hurt even more when it was shattered once more.  
"No you're not," Don told her, pulling her down to sit by grabbing onto her upper arm. "You're eating."

"Donnie, no I don't want too." Kerry mumbled darkly pulling against him.

"I don't care if you don't want to," he said. "You're eating. You've lost at least five pounds in the last month alone. You need to eat something."

"Don't worry, I took her keys." Leo said to his brother passing him the item.

"Thank you, Leo," Don said.

"Fuck you both." Kerry grumbled as she slouched in her seat.

"No, I'm good thanks," Leo said. "You can save all that for Don."

Nobody laughed. And Kerry and Don didn't even have the energy to look embarrassed. Leo sighed.

"Alright, we need to talk about this." Leo said seriously.

"I don't want too!" Kerry hissed angrily.

"Just leave it alone, Leo!" Raph growled. "I don't want to hear any of her shit."

"But don't you want to know why the girl you love is being so uncharacteristically Alex?" Mikey asked seriously.

"...I don't love her," Raph said dangerously low.

"Who are you kidding, Raph?" Leo asked. "You were head-over-heels for her. You'd do anything for her."

"We were all taking bets on when you'd pop the question, I had my money on a month after she graduates." Don muttered to him.

"I had my money on next winter," Mikey said. "You know, at a hockey game?"

"Shut up. It wasn't meant to be okay? The girl I...liked was not real!" Raph snapped.

"Just stop." Kerry murmured pitifully as she covered her ears. She had been a part of the bet, siding with Mikey. She had so many dreams about being her maid of honor...but that dream was shattered for both maid of honor and groom.

"You know Alex is one of the most genuine people we've ever met!" Mikey said. "I mean, she didn't get paid to tutor me! She didn't have to spend extra time helping me on weekends. She didn't have to come hang out with us! She didn't have to get us those meaningful presents! She didn't have to do any of it, but she did because that's who she is. She loves all of us!"

"She didn't have to hurt us either." Raph snapped. "We don't even know what she said to Kerry and look at her! Yeah she's genuine, but it's only a good genuine when you're in her good graces!"

"Really, there has to have been a reason for her doing this!" Mikey said. "Maybe she knows something we don't. Like, I don't know, the guy that killed her parents is hunting her down or something. You all know the details of their murder were really wack."

"...then why did she replace us?" Kerry muttered looking down at the table. Her new best friend was pretty, tall, and leith, nothing like Kerry was. She was better than Kerry probably.

"I don't think she did," Mikey said. "I mean, she had other friends before she knew us. Maybe they're working on a project or something. They were all looking at the same picture or whatever it was on the table!"

"She doesn't have any friends at school anymore. She told them to leave her alone too. Besides, I've never seen them before," Kerry muttered looking at him.

"Look's like she needed a change of scenery, huh, hick?" Raph chuckled darkly. "We're too stupid for her apparently." Kerry winced slightly but didn't argue like she normally would. She didn't do anything like she used to.

"Don't you guys think that's just weird?" Mikey asked. "Like something is seriously going on with her?"

"So what if there was?" Leo said. "She doesn't want us involved. There's nothing we can do."

"Maybe that's exactly why we should be involved then," Mikey said. "What if she gets hurt? How would you feel then?"

"Mikey," Leo said seriously. "I would feel bad but...she doesn't want us."

Kerry started sniffing at those words, sleeves rubbing her make-upless eyes.

"Alex's look towards us told me otherwise," he muttered, shaking his head at everybody at his table.

"Even if that's the case, what are we going to do, huh?!" Raph snapped at him. "Just because we know something's up doesn't mean she'll let us help! I fucking tried, Mikey!"

"Stop yelling!" Kerry screamed at them. "Just stop it!"

Mikey sighed. "I just, I can't let this go," he told them. "I love Alex. We all love Alex. I can't just let her walk away without knowing the full story. Not if it's over something stupid."

"She won't let us, Mikey." Leo said. "I-I talked to her too. I tracked her down and she literally said she wanted nothing to do with us. And Mikey...she was telling the truth. I saw it in her eyes."

Kerry shrunk back from Leo as if he hit her. "I want to go home." she whined again looking for her keys. Fight or flight and fight wasn't an option.

Don sighed. "Okay," he muttered. "We'll get our food to go. And I'm going home with you to make sure you eat it."

"No, Don she's staying here." Raph glared at them. "She needs to get the fuck over it."

"Like you have?" Leo scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine!" Raph growled.

"Bullshit," Mikey accused. "You came home drunk off your ass the other night."

"So? Why does that matter?" Raph scoffed.

"Underage drinking mean anything to you?" Leo glared.

"And even before Alex, that wasn't really your thing," Don said. "I mean, when Master Splinter let us have a sip of the sake during holidays and birthdays you only had a little."

"Getting shitfaced isn't your thing," Mikey added.

"Maybe I need a new thing, maybe I'm a new me." Raph looked away.

"That's not healthy." Kerry muttered. _Hypocrite_ she thought to herself.

"We're all worried about you, Raph," Leo said.

"Well, I'm fine. I'm walking around, I'm not slipping in my grades, I can freaking function so what's the problem?" he glared.

"...Let him be." Kerry said, surprisingly defending Raph.

Leo sighed, rubbing his face. "Okay, okay," he muttered. "Let's just get our food to go and eat at Kerry's."

"Geez, just invite yourselves over." Kerry grumbled a bit.

"We will!" Mikey exclaimed with a laugh. "Por que tu casa es usted casa," he muttered. "Did I say that right?"

Kerry didn't smile or anything just standing up and putting her arms around her. "Come on, I just want to eat and go to bed." she muttered. "Leave whenever you want."

"We could make it a movie night or something," Mikey suggested.

"Sure, whatever." Kerry shrugged not hugging him back when Mikey squeezed. She stomped off to the doorway.

 _Something's gotta give_ , Leo thought to himself. _And I'm scared it will be one of us_.


	22. Taken

Chapter 22

Taken

"Open the door!" Elliott screamed, banging on the beautiful door of the Hamato's house. It was extremely late in the evening, and he knew that the residents were settling in by the television to relax before bed, but he didn't care. He was desperate and he prayed that they would give him the answers he needed.

"Give me a second!" Raph snapped as he, his brothers, and Kerry. He stumbled over the door. "Do you know what time it- Elliot?" Raph blinked. At that Kerry ducked back behind the door, not wanting to be seen.

Elliot was a mess. His hair was messed up, making him look slightly mad. His face was pale except for his cheeks, which were red from running around all night. There were bags under his eyes, and the whites of his eyes were more pink and red than white.

"Elliott? What are you doing here?" Leo asked. "What's wrong?"

"Have," he huffed. "Have any of you seen Alex?" he asked.

"Uhh not since she told us to get the hell out of her life." Raph grumbled.

Elliot turned his back to them, obviously not pleased to hear that. "Shit," he muttered. He ran his hands through his hand, pulling at it. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Ellie?" Kerry's small voice sounded from behind the door and she peeked out to look at him almost as if afraid of him. "What happened?"

"Did you see Alex at school today? At all?" he asked.

Kerry's brows furrowed and she shook her head.

"No?" he asked. "Has anybody seen her yesterday night or today?" he asked.

"We saw her at Franco's about...two days ago?" Don answered him. "She was with two other kids."

"She was?" he asked. "I have no idea who they are."

"Neither did we, Kerry said she's never seen them at school before," Leo said. "Are you implying to us that Alex is missing?

"What is going on here?" a calm and demanding voice asked behind the group.

"Alex is missing." Raph said as he was already on the floor putting his shoes on. "We have to look for her." he said his voice low and if you looked close enough his hands were shaking.

"No, patience is a virtue," Master Splinter said.

"Patience?!" Raph glared. "She's missing! Every second counts."

"You must be calm in times of stress," Splinter told his son. He turned to Elliot and said, "Now, tell us the last you saw Alexandra."

"S-She went for a workout," he told him. "Last night. I mean, that's nothing different. She always does. So I went to bed. And she normally gets up for a run in the morning and leaves for school before I get up. So I didn't think anything of it."

"Yeah, that's right," Leo nodded. "I sometimes see her on my morning runs, but not today."

"Right, but then I got a call from the school saying she wasn't in her classes all day. So I called April to see if she was with her. She hasn't seen her since she worked the other night. And Zack, Marcus and Nathan haven't seen her. She didn't show up for classes at the dojo tonight either."

"So she went missing last night." Don nodded. "We have to start looking now." he said with a nod, bending down to grab his shoes as well, his brothers and Kerry following in suit.

Splinter sighed. "Was she with the Guardians last evening?" he asked, feeling as if he had no other choice but to ask in front of his sons.

"...Guardians?" Kerry looked up at him oddly. "You mean...people from our...their dojo.

"No," Splinter said, staring directly at Elliott. "Was she with the Guardians last night?"

"A-Alex doesn't know anything about the Guardians," Elliott informed him. "She doesn't know anything about my job."

"That is inaccurate," Splinter said. "She has been working for the Guardians for quite some time. It is why I asked her to leave this family, if she did not leave the organization."

"Wait...you asked her to leave the family?" Mikey asked his father. "W-Why would you do that?!" he asked his voice wavering.

"You must understand, my son," he told Mikey, placing a gentle hand on his head, smoothing out his curly hair. "The Guardians bring danger. The line of work threatens all that are associated with it. I had to protect you."

"So?" Raph asked, almost scarily calm. "Why does that matter? She's family! We do things together as a family, dangerous or not! And you basically tossed her out to the slaughter!"

"Being a Guardian was the reason why my wife and daughter died!" Splinter harshly replied. "As why Alexandra and Elliot's parents were killed. I could not risk the Shredder finding us. From finding my sons."

"And Alex respects you too much to do anything other than what you wish," Elliot sighed, nodding his head. "And she wishes to honor our parents by finding the man responsible for our parents death, so she left."

"I made it clear to her that I wanted her with us, rather than having her leave," Splinter stated. "She made her decision."

"Why...why did she tell me I wasn't part of her family then?" Kerry mumbled quietly, off to the side away from everyone.

"Did you tell Alex that you were doing this to protect your family from danger?" Elliott asked Splinter. He received a nod before turning to Kerry. "Knowing Alex, she wanted to protect you too."

"She did a horrible job." Kerry said arms wrapped around herself.

"She did what she could. She knew you'd fight her on it. She needed you to hate her to keep you at a safe distance away from her," Splinter thought.

"That's not her fucking decision!" Kerry screamed,

"But it was partially her decision," Elliott said. "I mean, I would have done the same thing with my family, if I was strong enough. But I couldn't do it. I tried. I mean, I stayed in Japan an extra month after training trying to work my way up to cutting everybody out. But I couldn't do it."

"Did she ever think about how I would feel?! That maybe that was doing more harm than good. S-She has... _no_ idea... _no clue_ what she's done to me." Kerry said salty tears dripping down her cheeks.

"She'd rather have you hate her than for her to be what got you shot in the head, or worse," Elliott said.

"And the Shredder and the Foot specialize in "worse,"" Splinter stated darkly.

"You don't understand, you really don't," Kerry muttered mostly to herself, voice wavering. "I-I...I'm going to look for her." she said finishing tying her shoes as she got up and headed out the door.

"Wait, Kerry," Elliott said. "Since I know Alex is a Guardian now, I know exactly who to call."

"Mortu?" Splinter asked. "Perhaps it would be wise if I were to contact my old friend."

Elliot's phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the ID on the screen. "It's Mortu," he stated. "I'm still on medical leave," he said. "He wouldn't call me unless something went seriously wrong." He stared at the phone with scared eyes. "Oh God," he groaned.

Kerry grabbed onto his sleeve as she looked up at him. "Answer it." she ordered quietly, pressing close to her brother.

Elliott took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He opened the phone and put it on speaker. "Where's Alex, Mortu?" he asked directly, not beating around the bush.

"We are very concerned, my old friend," Splinter said.

" _Yoshi?"_ Mortu asked on the other line. " _Elliott, you must really have been concerned if you brought one of our founding members into this matter."_

"Of course I would," Elliott said. "My sister is missing! What the hell did you send her on?"

" _Perhaps it would be best if you came to the medical ward to discuss this. There are two people I wish for you two speak with."_

* * *

Mortu watched Elliott storm into the room with Hamato Yoshi behind him, as well as the Hamato children and the honorary O'Neil girl. He had not expected all of them to arrive, but he shouldn't have been surprise, not with how close Alex was with all of them.

The white haired man stood next to two beds, where two young members of the Guardians sat, already bandaged up from their confrontation on their mission. Usagi and Emma were very badly beaten, but not to the extent to where they needed to spend a prolonged period of time in the medical bay. And that was all thanks to Alex.

"Hello, old friend," Mortu greeted Splinter with a bow. "I am sorry our reunion is under such troubling circumstances."

"As do I," Splinter said.

"Your children have grown into fine young men," Mortu complimented.

"That they have," he said. "But please, may we get down to business?"

Raph only glared at the man. "Where is Alex?"

"S-She," Emma said struggling to sit up. "They h-have her." she winced, arm wrapping around her busted ribs.

"Easy," Leo told her. He moved closer, helping her up gently.

"Who does?" Don asked.

"Hun," Usagi informed them, staring intently down at the floor.

"Hun?!" Kerry asked. "You went up against him with only a three man squad?"

"He wasn't supposed to be there," Emma told them. "It was supposed to just be a regular night. Just like any other. There were supposed to just be a group of them in there, including the guy that killed her parents. That was who we were going in for. Just him."

"And information," Usagi said. "We went for that first. Alex insisted."

"You still have a secondary response team waiting at a distance in case an evac is needed!" Kerry said hands clenching.

"The Guardians are spread thin as is," Elliott said, crossing his arms. "We barely have enough members for three man squads."

"Enrollment has severely decreased over the years," Mortu informed Splinter.

"We got sloppy." Emma muttered. "It was going well up until we got onto the lower levels. Alex was at point while Usagi and I stood guard. I-I didn't see him coming." Emma muttered looking down.

"She managed to get the information before she heard the commotion. She came out to help the moment she did," Usagi said.

"But he was just so big," Emma muttered. "And his skin was like iron. I-I should have moved faster, done something more."

"Hey," Leo told her. "You did what you could."

"He's right, Emma," Usagi said. "We both did."

"B-But what about Alex?" Mikey asked.

"We pulled out, retreating to the windows on the east side of the bottom floor. But the building was going into lockdown. Iron walls were dropping. We made it out but...she pushed us ahead to make sure we made it out first. But as soons she slipped under the door, Hun grabbed her ankle and pulled her back in." Emma explained.

"She dropped the flash drive before she got pulled back in though and told us to go," Usagi said. "And then we were locked out."

"What happened after that?" Elliott asked desperately.

"We reported back here to get help," Emma said. "There wasn't anything else we could do. We could barely make it back here on our own."

"So they still have Alex?" Elliott asked. "This whole time and nobody thought to call me!"

"We sent a recovery team after they got back," Mortu explained. "As protocol states. However, the building was empty."

"And you didn't think to call her family after nothing turned up?" Splinter asked.

"We managed to hack into the security system," Mortu said. "We were trying to figure out where they took her."

"What are we waiting for then?" Kerry asked darkly as she crossed her arms. "We need to gather intel, compile and plan." she said.

"Twenty minutes ago I received intel from one of our scouts," Mortu said. "He figured out where they had her."

"Okay, were?" Leo asked him.

"A warehouse in Hell's Kitchen," he stated. "We hacked into their security system. What we found," he sighed, "wasn't pleasant."

"W-What do you mean?" Elliott asked in an extremely small voice.

"As you well know, from experience," Mortu started, "they don't take kindly to finding Guardians infiltrating their business."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Please don't tell me they're…"

Kerry took her brother's hand tightly. "Elliot...we have to get to her. Now."

"What's going on?" Mikey asked. "What are they doing?"

Mortu sighed, picking up the tablet off of the bed next to Usagi. "Look for yourself," he said.

Leo reached out slowly and took the tablet in his hand, he felt his brother surround him as he opened it up and looked down the surveillance feed. He took a deep breath before pressing play.

The screen was dark for a moment before the picture became clear. They had obviously cleared the image up quite a bit. They could clearly see Alex laying on her side with her feet bound, and her hands tied behind her back. They could clearly see half of her face was bruised, and they had to assume that wasn't her only injury.

Hun was standing across from her, smirking darkly at the redhead. "Now, are you going to tell me what you and your little friends took?" he asked.

"Go to hell, Hun," Alex said. She was still as defiant as ever, but her voice was small and tired sounding.

"Not anytime soon," he said. "I'll be sending you there first."

He reached down and picked the girl up. There was a chain hanging down from the ceiling and with a hook on the end. He hooked it around the bindings on her hands, which were still pulled behind her back and let her hang there, the angle pulling at her muscles in her arms and shoulders. Alex groaned and tried to lean forward to help even herself out and stop the pain, but Hun picked up a hose, blasting water at her.

Alex was hit directly in the face with the water. It forced it's way into her mouth and nose, making her gag and cough. The force from the water also made her swing back slightly, pulling even more on her arms.

"I'm surprised her arms didn't dislocate," Don muttered, his hand covering his mouth. Kerry closed her eyes tightly and hid her face in Elliot's chest.

Hun shut the water off, dropping the hose onto the floor. He turned his head sideways, looking at the girl like many puppies did. However, Hun was far from a puppy. "What did you take?" he demanded again.

"Nothing," she lied with a cough. She was shivering from being soaked to the bone. "We got discovered before we could get anything."

"Liar," he accused. He backhanded her, causing her to swing on the chain. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her as he demanded, "What did you take?"

"Nothing!" she pressed. "We didn't get anything!"

Hun growled, turning away from the girl to an area off camera. "You want to play this game?" he asked. "Fine by me. Master will be happy to have a Guardian as a prisoner."

Hun came back into view, wheeling a cart with what looked like a car battery attached to jumper cables. He stopped in front of her reaching out to her to connect the other side of the jumper cables to the metal bindings around her hands.

"Oh god no..." Raph mumbled eyes wide with horror.

Electricity shot through the metal and into the girl. The water made it ten times worse. Alex screamed out in pain this time, her eyes squeezing shut as tears slipped steadily out and down her cheeks. Hun pulled back, smiling at the girl as she cried and tried to catch her breathe. Before she could compose herself, he did it again.

"What did you take?" he demanded.

" _N-N-Nothing_ ," she stammered through the sobs.

" _Liar_!" he yelled, shocking her again.

And again. And again.

"L-Leo, turn it off." Mikey whimpered a bit. "I-I don't want to see anymore."

Mortu took the tablet and shut it off. "There isn't much else on there. They moved her ten minutes later, but they don't have cameras in the area they took her. If they do, they're not connected to the main system so we don't have any access to them."

"Why in the _fucking_ hell have you not done something!" Raph yelled. "I should beat the ever living shit out of you! She's in pain and you're just sitting around here not even making plans you fucking bastard." Raph said stalking up to Mortu.

"Raphael," Splinter said. "Let the man explain himself."

"Why haven't you done something?" Don asked him.

"We don't have any available field Guardians left," Mortu explained. "That's why I called Elliott. We need help to get her out."

"What do I look like huh?" Kerry asked crossing her arms and stepping up. "A freaking gardener? Send me in." she said seriously.

"Generally we don't allow outsiders to assist, but we're desperate," Mortu said. "All of you can go for all I care. We just need to get Alex out of there. Alive, preferably."

"Alright, I'm in." Kerry said as if that was it. "I'll be getting ready if anyone gives a shit." she grumbled and headed off down the hall were a Guardian stood to take her to get suited up.

"So this is why Alex was acting weird?" Mikey muttered, tears staining his cheeks.

"Guys, she needs us, all of us." Donnie said desperately.

"Right, so we're going in too then?" Leo murmured with a nod.

"Did you ever think otherwise, dumbass." Raph glared. "Of course we're going in."

"Father?" Leo asked.

Splinter sighed. "I had hoped to protect you from this life," he said. "But it seems no matter how hard I try, you are destined to help others. To protect others." He looked at each of his sons. "I could not be more proud of you and your selfless action to help you friend."

"Dad," Leo murmured before he and his brothers bowed. "T-Thank you, Father." he said.

"Now come on, before Kerry runs off on her own." Mikey stated. "It's time for the best hero in the world to make an appearance, the Turtle Titan!"

"So not the time, Michelangelo," Leo scolded.

"It's always hero time." Mikey argued.

"Come on idiot." Don sighed and pulled his younger brother with him to go get suited up.


	23. Water

Chapter 23

Water

Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. Screaming hurt. Thinking hurt.

Everything Alex did sent waves of pain threw her body. She knew she had to move, but she couldn't make herself get up from her spot on the cellar floor. She tried. She really tried, but her body refused to listen to her mind.

She knew she had to get out of there. If she didn't, who knew what else they were going to do it her. She had barely pushed through the pain from the electricity. She could feel the burns on her wrists, the cuffs digging into the raw skin. Her stomach was severely bruised, almost to the point where she feared internal bleeding, but she would have already died from that if it was the case,

And no matter how hard she thought and looked around her cell, she couldn't figure a way out. There were no windows. There were no vents or ducts. There was just the one door where a guard was standing with his back to her. And she couldn't possibly take him. She could barely roll over, let alone knock the guy out to escape.

Before the redhead had the chance to think of anything else, the door opened and Hun walked back in. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and made his way back out of the room, turning quickly so Alex hit her head off of the doorframe.

"Where are you taking me?" she groaned, her bruised stomach pressed into his shoulder.

"Master doesn't want a Guardian around," he stated. "He's ordered me to dispose of you myself."

 _Dispose?_ Alex asked herself. _He's going to kill me_ , she thought frantically. She started to thrash, desperately trying to get away from him. But it didn't do much good. Her feet were bound, as were her hands. Even if she did manage to get him to drop her, she wouldn't have been able to run away.

"I hear you have a fear of water," Hun chuckled darkly. "We just so happen to have a large dunking booth is a lid. Why don't you try it out?"

 _No, no, no,_ she thought, shaking her head. "Let go!" she screamed. "Let me go!"

Hun came to a stop and pulled Alex in front of him, holding her by her arms over the tank. "You will tell me what you took," he told her.

 _He's going to drown me,_ Alex thought. _He's going to do it no matter what, so why should I tell him? Why should I give away the Guardians?_ She spat in his face. "No."

Hun grumbled, flipping up the metal top to the tank. He dropped Alex and she felt her stomach drop even further. The cold water felt like hitting an ice wall. The water instantly seeped into her clothes, chilling her to the bone. Before Alex could push herself up from the bottom to go to the surface for air, hun grabbed her head, holding it under the water.

Alex thrashed, trying to get out of his hold, but doing so only made her need to breathe even more. Her hands were tied behind her back, so there was no possible chance she could try clawing at his hands. Water flooded into Alex's mouth and nose.

Hun pulled her up and out by her hair. Alex coughed, gasping for air for what little time she knew she had above the surface. "Go fuck yourself!" she yelled.

Hun dunked her under again, holding her down longer this time due to her resistance and rude comment. Alex tried to use her feet to push off of the side of the container to get away from his hold, but his fingers were tangled in her hair. She cried out underwater, more water pooling into her mouth and down her throat.

As he yanked her back out by her hair a force pulled him to the side, Kerry had slammed her frame into his side with all her might, causing both of them to tumble to the side and for Hun to release his grasp on Alex. However, when Hun released Alex, she was dropped into the tank. And when he fell, he hit the metal top, closing the only exit available to Alex.

Alex heard and felt the container shut and knew something bad was about to go down. Her stomach flipped, and not in a good way whatsoever. She pushed off of the bottom of the tank and rammed the top of the container with her shoulder, but it didn't budge. She was trapped in the water.

Alex sank back down to the bottom, unable to go anywhere else but up by pushing off of the bottom. She couldn't swim and there was no point in even trying, since the area inside the tank was so small. She pulled her legs up to her chest before stretching them out until they made contact with one side of the tank. Her back hit the other a moment later. She pushed ,trying to break the transparent container, but they had reinforced it. No matter how hard she pushed she couldn't break it.

Above the hatch wasn't any calmer. Kerry got throw into Leo as he and his brothers ran over to help. The two groaned and hurried to separate, as Mikey distracted Hun. Rapheal for once had no mind on the fight as he looked over at the tank, seeing the hatch closed at the top and Alex struggling against it. He went pale as he remembered her drunken confession at New Years. Alex couldn't swim. He ran over and hit the side with his shoulder as well but it wouldn't budge.

"Al-Alex! Stay calm!" he yelled, hoping he could hear her. "Panicking will make your oxygen be used up!" he said as he frantically searched for a way to open the tank. "DON! Donnie I need you over here! _Now!_ "

Alex could feel the tank jerk. She turned her head, seeing the blurred outline of a redhead on the outside. _Raph?_ she asked herself, her head beating extremely quickly from her panic. _What is he doing here? He can't be here! He has to go! It's not safe_.

Alex shook her head violently, mouthing the word 'go' to him. He needed to get to safety. Hun was too strong. He needed to get away!

"Fucking dumbass!" Raph hissed to her. "Don! Pause getting your ass kicked and get it over here!"

Don ran over as quickly as he could. He stood next to Raph, looking at the container for a moment in shock. He had no idea that Alex had been trapped in there. "Gotcha," he told him, jumping up to the top to try and turn the handle. It wasn't budging. "Raph, give me a hand!" he groaned as he tried again.

Raph was up by him in a second as he swung himself up onto the platform. He grasped the handle with his brother. "1,2,3!" He counted and the two brothers pulled as hard as they could. "Don, it's not budging!"

Alex rammed the top of the container again, becoming extremely desperate. She had seen Raph and Don go above her, but they had been gone longer than they should have. The top would have opened if there wasn't a problem already. So there was a problem. She knew she was really stuck.

 _I'm gonna drown,_ she thought, panicking. She pushed the sides of the container again. _I can't drown! I'm gonna drown. Oh God, I'm gonna die!_ She kicked as hard as she could, but her back wasn't against the other side, so when she pushed and was sent into the wall, knocking air out of her lungs from the hard impact. _I can't breathe. I can't breathe._

"Don, Alex can't swim! And she's been down to long! She's going to fucking drown!" Raph hissed as he hit the hatch with the butt of his sai.

"Okay, okay," Don muttered to himself. He examined the container for a moment before yelling, "Got it! Right here." he placed his hand next to one of the bolts. "This is the weakest point of the container. Give me your sai!"

"What?" Raph asked desperately but listened to his brothers instruction.

"I've gotta put pressure here!" he told hand, holding out his hand taking the sai. "Once that goes, the whole thing with giveaway."

Alex's lungs were screaming at her. Her chest tried to make her breathe in, but she fought it as hard as she could. She couldn't get anymore water in her than there already was. But as each second went on, the burning increased and Alex was having an impossible time trying to focus on holding her breathe. She was panicking and panicking was never good for focus.

The redhead couldn't take it anymore. Her mouth opened, and water flooded into her mouth and nose, going into her lungs. She choked, her eyes going wide as she felt even more enclosed than she already was.

Leaning over the side to check on her as Don worked, Raph grew panicked. "Donnie! She's fucking drowning, hurry the fuck up!"

Alex saw Raph looking looking down at her, and her eyes tried to stay focused on him. But it was starting to get all dark and blurry. She was losing consciousness. "I'm sorry," she mouthed to him.

"Alex! Don't you fuckng dare!" Raph screamed at her.

Alex couldn't hear exactly what Raph was yelling. Everything was muffled underwater. But she figured he wasn't happy. He didn't want her to drown and she knew she had to keep fighting. But what else was there for her to do. She was tied up. She had no air left. She was going to drown to death.

"I love you," she mouthed, more water spilling in before her vision finally went completely.

The girl floated in the water, unmoving. The water stilled inside from her lack of movement. The only sound in the place was the sound of the fight going on between their group and Hun.

Don finally managed to open the top. He reached in and pulled the limp girl out of the water. He laid her on the ground next to the tank and put his ear to her chest, then her mouth to listen for any breath or a heartbreak. "Shit," he muttered, getting over her to start CPR. "Come on, Alex. _Breathe_!"

"Donnie, is she?" Raph asked crawling over quickly to them.

"Come on, come on, come on," he muttered, doing the compressions. "Don't do this to us, Alex."

Hun growled, throwing Kerry into Mikey and Leo. While they were down, he turned and ran out of the room. By the time they got back up, Hun had already made it to the exit. it was a lost causing going after him on their own, so instead of doing so, they turned and ran over to where Raph and Don were with Alex.

"Alex!" Kerry cried as she ran up the steps and knelt down beside Raph, across from Don. She angled the girls head up to clear her airways and leaned down plugging Alex's nose. Kerry breathed into her chest as Don paused in compressions. "Switch?" Kerry asked absentmindedly and Don didn't even have to nod as they switch. Kerry started her 30 compressions as Don kept her head angled.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Mikey asked, collapsing onto the ground next to Raph. He was tired and scared.

"W-We have to believe she will, Mikey," Leo panted, hand on his brother's shoulder. Kerry stopped her compressions and felt for a pulse. She swore under the breath and let Don breath into her before they switched for a third round of compressions.

"S-She's blue," Mikey muttered.

"S-She wasn't under for long." Kerry muttered as she cleared her ex-best friend's airway. "It shouldn't be taking this long to revive!" she swore a bit before she gave Alex another breath of air.

"There was added trauma," Don said as he continued the compressions.

"She couldn't swim," Raph muttered, starting at the girl, his eyes landing on the necklace he had given her for her birthday. She still had it on?

"B-but still," Kerry muttered. "Fucking dumbass," she swore, giving another breath to Alex before she switched with Don again.

Out of nowhere, Alex choked, the some of the water that was in her lungs came out. She rolled to the side, coughing out even more of the water. Kerry instantly leaned back over and pulled her up so none of the water flowed into her nose.

"Oh, thank god." Raph muttered quietly, hand going over his mouth.

Alex continued to cough out the water. She wasn't conscious for long though. Once she was gone, the girl slumped and passed out.

"Let's get her back into recovery position and find a way to get her out of here," Kerry mumbled, rubbing blood from her forehead.

* * *

If Alex wasn't so in so much discomfort from all of her injuries, she would have thought that whatever bed she was sleeping in was comfortable. She didn't want to wake up. All Alex wanted to do was go back to sleep where she wasn't in pain.

But the pain was keeping her from falling back asleep. She sighed softly in defeat, slowly opening her eyes. She closed them again, due to how bright the room seemed, but then opened them again. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust and clear up, but once they had, her green eyes landed on a redhead resting their head against the mattress next to her hand. His own hand was holding onto hers tightly.

Raph was staring at her hand, fiddling with her fingers. She could tell he was lost in thought, obviously having far too much on his mid.

"I don't," Alex tried to say. her throat was so hoarse that she barely sounded like herself. She cleared it, before continuing. "Think you're stupid," she stated.

Raph looked up in shock at her voice. "Y-You're awake?" he blinked. "Y-You're awake!" he said quickly and hugged her.

"Mmm," Alex hummed, feeling the warmth from his hug. She was still extremely cold. The chill from the water following her. "You went to get me?" she asked, looking up at him. "But how did you know?"

"Your brother came to our house last night," Raph mumbled, pulling away but rubbing her arms to provide more warmth. "He asked if we saw you and Master Splinter told us you joined the Guardians and told you to stay away from us..."Raph trailed off. "Anyway Mortu called your brother and we all came here to get answers. Kerry, my brothers, and I formed an emergency team for extraction," he mumbled.

"I-I'm sorry," she muttered. "I never wanted you guys to get involved in this. I just, I just wanted you safe."

"You are a dumbass, you need to get your name legally changed to 'I'm a fucking dumbass who doesn't think'. I mean shouldn't it be our choice? You can't make decisions like that for us." Raph glared. "It's our life, stop trying to run it."

"You would have done the same thing and you know it," Alex said, looking away from Raph. She knew she was stupid, but she had to protect them. She wasn't trying to run their lives. She just wanted to make sure they actually had lives to live.

"Maybe, maybe not, but wouldn't you do the exact same thing we did?" Raph countered. "You'd be just as pissed off as we were."

Alex nodded. "Yeah," she admitted. "I'm sorry, Raph. Really, I just," she sighed. "I'm just sorry. I don't know how I'll ever make it up to you. And I'd understand if you didn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"..Like you said, I understood where you were coming from." Raph mumbled and picked up her hand to hold it in between his. "and I want you back in my life. I can't promise it will be like before, but we can try." he mumbled softly.

"Really?" Alex asked hopefully. "I mean, after what I said? I was a total bitch for saying those things. You know I didn't mean them, right?"

"Yeah, I mean like i said, it might take time for all of us to get over it and...Kerry is...might...she might be tougher." Raph muttered quietly. "But I'm willing to accept you back. So are my brothers."

"I don't deserve you," Alex muttered, placing her hand on his cheek. She caressed it with her thumb tenderly. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I appreciate it far more than you could believe."

"People don't deserve a lot of things. Isn't that the point of forgiveness?" Raph muttered quietly.

"I love you," Alex told him. "I never told you that enough."

"I love you too," Raph murmured in return, as if reflex, as if nothing had changed.

"So, uh," Alex muttered, holding his hand tightly. "Since you guys know about the Guardians now, what are you going to do? I mean, Master Splinter didn't want you guys involved in it. But now you kind of are. Are you gonna join or just go back to how things were before?"

"I-I never really thought about it. I mean, none of us really want to upset Master. But he said himself that it seems our destinies were to help protect people. I might give being a Guardian a shot."

Alex smirked. "It's be cool to have you guys," she said. "I mean, the only people I got to talk about the Guardians were Emma and Usa-Oh my God, Emma and Usagi, are they okay? Did they get away?"

"They're fine." Raph chuckled. "Banged up for sure, but away and moving. Well, Emma's getting a bit of help from Leo."

Alex blinked. "Emma and Leo?" she gaped. "Well, uh, never really expected _that_ , but good for them!"

"Just chill your horses, they just met." Raph chuckled a bit.

"Nope," she giggled. "Now that Korny is a thing, Emmeo has to too. We need a new project."

"My god, really?" Raph chuckled a bit.

"Mhm," she hummed, she sat up slightly, adjusting the bed. "We need something to work on. you know, to help get things toward the right tracks to normal. That, and maybe if I help Leo with this, he'll forgive me a little. I mean," she sighed, rubbing her burnt wrists, "he told me he'd never forgive me for any of this."

"Even Leo says things he doesn't mean." Raph murmured. "Every one of us will come around...eventually."

Alex sighed. "I never meant for you guys to get hurt, when I started all this," she admitted. "I mean, I was working for the Guardians for about two months before Master Splinter found out."

"Yeah, he told us that, but I mean shouldn't that have told you he was worrying to much? Two months and we were fine. Besides, we already had run in with Hun to begin with."

"Yeah, but, Master Splinter's like a father to me. And he's one of the founding members of the Guardians. I had to respect his wishes," Alex said. "And as much as I didn't want to leave you guys, I had to honor my parents."

"I know, how about we just, forget about it? We're not going to move past it if we are so focused on the details to something that's already happened."

Alex sighed, nodding her head. She took in a deep breath before smiling up at him. "You're right," she said, squeezing his hand. "Generally you're _always_ right."

"It's part of being a Hamato," Raph grinned kissing her forehead.

Alex laughed. "God, I've missed you," she said.

"We missed you too, mostly me though." he grinned. "Be sure to thank Mikey, by the way, he never gave up on you."

"Really?" she asked. "That knucklehead. He doesn't know when to give up, does he? Well, thank heavens for that."

"Nope, his best and worst quality." Raph chuckled.

"I'm glad he didn't though," Alex admitted. "It's nice to know someone still believed in me when I had no right."

"I think deep down we all did." Raph murmured. "We just let emotions get in the way."

"Well, we're all just human," Alex said.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I have some bad news. This story will be moving over to AdorkablyUncensored, an account StillDoll13 and I share (since we wrote this together). And it'll be starting over. I posted up through here because I wanted you to see Alex make up with Raph and the others first, because it'll be a while before this stpry gets back to this point. I'm sorry, guys.**


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